Chosen by the Gods
by kalinnnnn
Summary: Konoha during the Fourth's rule. The shinobi world is at war, chaos rules and on top of that, the Kyuubi is ravaging the land of Fire. In such dark times, only the Gods can help him protect his people and answer his prayers. But what if they do?
1. Chapter 1: Chosen ones

**Author's note: 1. **I do not own Masashi Kishimoto's characters, neither Louise Bujold's ideas. You know that.

**2. Review!** It will help me improve my story in a way you would like. If there is one single person, who wants me to continue writing my story, I'll do it for him. But please review so that I know!

**3.** I do not write this story only for entertainment. I do it to improve my English, which isn't my native language, so forgive me, if I made a grammar or another mistake. Or even better, show it to me. I'll be glad to accept any correction you make.

**Chapter 1**

This place had no limits. It was a forest, at least in this part, and in the distance hills could be seen, preceding high mountains with snow caps. Judging by the newly blossomed flowers it was early spring. In the air was the smell of freshness, as it had just rained. It was, practically, beautiful like Heaven.

Which it was, by the way. A Lady with a blue dress, long curly brown hair suddenly appeared in sight, walking slowly among the trees, occasionally kneeling down to touch or smell a flower. Despite the often contacts between the muddy ground and the dress, it didn't get dirty; actually there was not even one spot of dirt on it. This was because of the fact that She was a goddess, the Daughter of the spring.

Her divine origin explained the second thing a casual witness would notice—she was really beautiful. So beautiful and radiant in fact, that no one except another god would be able to look directly at her face. Her eyes were shining with piercing white light; nothing and no one would be able to withstand that gaze.

Suddenly She stood up. Another tall figure was approaching, this time a man. He was as handsome as His Sister, with his straight red hair and equipment for hunting, the human activity he patronized.

He nodded slowly at Her.

"How is she?"

She tilted her head. "She is fine, as always. What about him?"

"As energetic as he has ever been." A soft smile was dancing on his lips. A hint for long and warm autumn days could be sensed in his expression.

"The Bastard's chosen one, however, betrayed his God's trust," she remarked, meeting his gaze.

The Son sighed.

"I know. But what dissuaded him will not affect them."

The expression of content returned to the Lady's face.

"They shall know pretty soon." And with that her eyes looked into another direction, through mists and barriers, to another world. Then in her hand a bright sphere appeared, and in that sphere, a woman with long black hair was watching shyly a man, at the same age, who was talking to someone out of sight.

"There she is"said the Daughter lovingly, as a mother would say to a favourite child. "Uzumaki Kushina-san."

"And there is mine" He nodded. "Namikaze Minato"

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Autumn was just starting and the leaves of the trees hadn't turned brown yet. A nice, sunny day, one of the last for this year, had tempted all the Konoha citizens leave their homes and walk under the sun. Shinobi weren't resting too, and the training grounds were full of enthusiastic young ninja, who were fighting each other, or developing their abilities in other ways.

The Fourth Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves, was standing still, watching the youth of his town. This was the newly opened training ground number three, which was opened only five months ago, exactly when he took the post of guardian and leader of Konoha. Now it was widely used to explain the basic rules of a ninja to youngsters, who had just started their career or were tested for one last time, before given the status of a Genin, just graduated from the Academy.

The warm sun kept his troubles away, at least for now, as he was watching with a smile of pride three thirteen-year-old children, who were fighting each other. His students, Kakashi, Obito and Rin were especially gifted in many ways, but most of all their fighting and analytic skills made them leaders among their fellow students. Kakashi was currently winning the fight, and Obito was already out. Minato sighed.

"Obito, try and use your hands more. You stand there like a puppet and you only help others win by doing the most predictable actions that are suited only for academy students, not for Chuunin like yourself."

Obito looked ashamed and lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry, sensei."

"Then do your best next time."

He looked away from him to the crowd of parents that had gathered to watch their children's progress. A woman caught his sight and smiled, blushing lightly. He smiled warmly in return.

That didn't remain unnoticed by Obito.

"You like her, sensei, don't you?" he asked with a mischievous smile on his face. Minato looked back at him, trying to look more severe.

"You go there and don't return, until you defeat Kakashi!" he ordered.

Obito frowned, but didn't protest. He disappeared again into the fighting crowd.

As soon as he was gone, the Hokage made his way through the crowd of parents to the woman he had smiled to a moment ago, Uzumaki Kushina.

"Hi" he greeted her.

"Hello, Hokage-sama" she answered more formally.

Back at where the children were fighting, Obito looked back at his teacher, smirked and raised his thumbs up. Minato decided to ignore that.

"Your students are doing really well, Hokage-sama." she said.

"Oh, um, thanks" he said, not knowing what else to reply. "Yours should be around here too, I suppose."

"Yes, over there" and she pointed at three children, a black haired girl, deflecting the attacks of two boys, one of whom had a dog on his shoulder, the other wore sunglasses and a jacket that covered his neck. They watched them fight for a while in silence.

"They are pretty good, too" noted the Hokage, impressed.

"Thank you." He liked when she smiled. She did it often, and something in her happy face made him smile too.

It was about time he plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date.

"Soo... urm... what are you doing tonight?" he finally said. Suddenly he panicked. _What if she says no? I'll look like a complete fool. _Her face darkened. _Oh, no she really is going to turn me down! _

"Sorry, but I have an arrangement already. Maybe some other day?" she suggested, hoping she hadn't offended him deeply.

"Oh, well, I can only do it today. It's... I have duties." he answered, and suddenly wondered why he hadn't agreed with her proposal. _She doesn't want to go out with me anyway._

"Ah. I see. Well then, don't let me take more of your time." _So he didn't really mean it._

And they parted briefly and formally. He walked to his students, who had already finished training, deep in thought, while Obito was boasting loudly.

"Sensei, did you see me? I almost beat Kakashi in his own game!"

"Sheer luck," snored the thirteen-year old boy next to him, who had his face covered by a mask. His silver hair resembled his father's colour and hairstyle, from whom he had probably taken the attitude too.

"Yeah, yeah," answered absent-mindedly Minato.

Unsure with whom was the Hokage agreeing, Obito looked suspiciously at his teacher.

"You all did great today" he added, sensing the boy's hesitation. "Now, who's for some treat at the ramen restaurant?"

Obito shouted excitedly and even Kakashi stopped frowning at the thought of food. But Minato wasn't sharing their joy. All that was in his head right now was one single thought. _I should have accepted Kushina's offer._

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"The demon fox has found its way to Earth" said the Daughter. There were four other Gods, who had gathered around her and were now listening. "In the period of crisis for the shinobi countries, even greater chaos is about to threaten Konoha.

"In order to prevent that, both of the Earthlings must sacrifice their lives," said the Son.

"Chaos is defeated only by Order," said another figure, grey and cold; it was the Father, god of winter.

The white god, master of demons and Chaos, spoke. "My servant has disobeyed me. How are you sure the courage of yours will not abandon them in the face of the sacrifice they have to make?"

"We shall touch them very soon. The channel their free human will will open shall be as a result of that same fear that made your servant disobey. They both have chosen their path a long time ago, and they cannot change it."

"Only despair can hurt them now," added the fourth figure, dressed in green; the Mother, goddess of summer.


	2. Chapter 2: Prayers and Gods

**Chapter 2**

New day illuminated Konoha. The rays of the sun shone through the windows of the Hokage's office, revealing a sleeping Namikaze Minato, his head on the desk, and some papers stuck to his cheek. He woke up.

_What-what happened?_

He looked around his office. It was a total mess.

Papers and rubbish were scattered all over the floor, most of them into piles, as high as his knee. Dust covered everything except the panel of his desk, which instead was stained with black dots of ink. His brush was left lying beside the ink-pot, and some parched black paint was still on it. His writings, which he hadn't finished last night, were left next to him, and when he removed the piece of parchment off his cheek, it turned out to be a report for unusual activities in the Sand village. It all made sense now as memories of last night made their way through the congested channels of his mind.

_That's right, after returning from the ramen restaurant, I went to my office to do some more work. I must've fallen asleep on my desk._

He got up to clean a little bit and throw into the rubbish bin the useless announcements and the blank pieces of paper. While scanning through piles of litter to sort out the things he didn't need, he found a few empty bottles of sake, which explained his terrible breath and dizziness.

That in turn reminded him of the reason he got drunk, the unsuccessful attempt to arrange a date with Kushina. A wry smile appeared on his face.

The rubbish bin was quickly overfilled, but before having to face the problem of how to dispose of the rest of the papers, the door opened and a woman came in. It was his assistant, Inuzuka Sakura. She stopped, confused by the sight of total chaos in the Hokage's office.

His expression quickly changed to a warm smile.

"Hi" he greeted her.

Her gaze finally met his.

"Hokage-sama,it is an emergency," she said, ignoring his greeting. "There is a gathering in hall three."

He quickly stood up, now completely serious. His sleepiness disappeared in an instant. Following Sakura, he closed the door behind him.

Minato was wondering what could be the reason for the emergency council to be summoned. During the past four months the great shinobi countries were on the verge of war, and it was his greatest fear that this time something had triggered it. Konoha didn't have enough military force and even with two of the great Sannin at their side it was too much to hope they could win. _It is still too early, _he comforted himself.

Minato entered hall three after his assistant. All the village's authorities were there—the ANBU leader, the head of Konoha's police and the most powerful Jounin in the area. As he entered they all stood up.

"Hokage-sama, there is an emergency situation. The Jinchuurikies of the four great countries are set free."

_So this was it._

„Practically, this means war." he said in a dry cold tone. A Jinchuuriki was a human sacrifice, one of the most horrible crimes of the ninja countries. There were eight of them—human beings that were turned into monsters by being implanted with a spirit of a tailed beast, a bijuu—a creature with enormous chakra, which they wanted to control. Those who survived the operation were few, but the benefits were enormous. The host earned great power and chakra, and was the country's most powerful weapon in times of war. However, he was greatly feared not only by his enemies, but even by his fellow villagers. Jinchuurikies were treated like monsters and kept prisoners to protect their villages from the human, turned into a savage beast.

This was one of the main reasons which made the current Hokage decide that Konoha shouldn't have a Jinchuuriki. A decision, strongly opposed by his counsellors and mainly by the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku. A decision that was threatening his post and power, the foundations of which were in his authority among the village's most notable men. However, he didn't have the heart to doom what was probably going to be an innocent child to such a terrible fate. If the price for winning the current war was this, he wasn't ready to pay it.

"Not only war, but probably defeat," added the ANBU leader.

"It is too early for such conclusions, Yoshino," Jiraya joined in the conversation calmly.

"Do we have any further information on what the four Kage are planning?" asked Minato, ignoring Yoshino's remark.

"The Kazekage has gathered his troops and is preparing for an invasion of the Earth country. No further information is available, but the wind army should be somewhere near the border right now," said Hatake Sakumo, the most powerful Jounin in the Land of Fire.

"Do we have any info regarding as to what exactly started the war off?"

Tsunade, the third of the Sannin, unfolded a map of the shinobi lands on the table between them.

"It seems that a group of armed earth ninja was sneaking around the Wind country, those bastards," she said, adding a piece of personal comment. „Under some sort of pretext that they were mere travellers or something like that. The wind border guards noticed them and reported of a mass invasion to their commanders."

Deep in his mind, the fourth Hokage swore. But on the outside, he remained as calm as before, and only the angry and worried sparks in his eyes gave away that he was troubled.

"How many are they?"

"You mean the wind soldiers? No official reports of their number were given, but according to our spies they are around two thousand."

Even Minato's face went pale for a moment.

"How did they gather so many soldiers in such a short period of time?" asked Yoshino surprised.

Tsunade sat back on her chair with a tired expression.

"I don't know. But I guess the earth ninja will be wiped out by such massive forces."

Hokage sighed.

"Both the Wind and Earth country are our enemies, and they will search for our support as a last resort. We should stay neutral for now."

No one said anything. No one wanted to say anything, because they all knew that not joining the war wasn't an option their political position allowed.

"With this, I conclude the emergency meeting for now."

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_If there is someone out there who cares about our village and wants to help us, now is the time. _

But there was no one, and Minato knew that. No one cared about the weak country of Fire, which still had the status of a Great nation only because of past victories, because of glory and glamour long lost and not achievable any more. _Not for now, and past victories can't help us any more, _he thought bitterly, while walking down the main street of Konoha towards the spot where his students usually waited for him. _Staying neutral is the best way to strengthen our positions. But we can't do it, since we are one of the big shinobi countries, even though we don't have military strength—a position which has only disadvantages and no benefits._

His pace slowed down as he approached the meeting spot. He had the feeling that if he arrived at the bridge and the children were there, the consequences of what was announced today would be irreversible. It was even possible that his students were going to be dragged into a conflict they knew nothing about. They might even...

At this place, his train of thought broke down. In front of him was the bridge and Kakashi, Obito and Rin were there and judging by the pissed look on Kakashi's face, Obito was mocking him again. Minato stopped, watching them for a while, until they saw him.

"Huh? Sensei, what's wrong?"

_I can't tell them. _A second voice in his head said, _But I have to. _

"How did the emergency meeting go, sensei?" asked Kakashi in a serious tone.

_Huh? I hadn't told them yet. _He was sure about that. But then again, Kakashi often surprised him with his ways of knowing everything.

Minato smiled, before answering.

"Bad. The Wind country has declared war to the Earth country."

Their shocked faces told him everything they didn't express with words.

"But... how... what...when?" asked Obito, confused.

"Two days ago may answer your last question."

He waited for another reaction, but as none came, he continued.

"I need to tell you some things. In the state of war, all ninja who are capable of fighting are summoned, no matter the age or status. This may include you, too."

He went on, explaining the importance of executing their missions successfully for as little time as possible. The importance of keeping to a plan, not rushing forward into the dangers without one. The importance of keeping orders... no matter the price. Kakashi's serious face showed that he was listening carefully to every word. Obito, on the other hand, was frowning more and more as the speech went on. At last, when he finished, the young Uchiha boy opened his mouth to speak.

"So the mission is more important than your friends?"

"Sometimes, yes," answered the Fourth diplomatically.

"I don't like that," he stated angrily crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Whether you like it or not does not matter," said Kakashi, watching Obito with disdain.

"OK, stop it you two." Rin raised her arms, stepping in between the boys before things got out of control. Kakashi and Obito didn't pounce on each other, but continued glaring angrily at the other's direction.

"You may not like each other very much, but soon enough you will have to work together," Minato said. "So get on with it."

"Hn" they both grunted. Another glimpse, then they turned their heads the opposite way.

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Later on, Minato was walking along the main street again. Thoughtful, one might say. Worried, another might suggest. But in fact it seemed to him that his head was going to explode, overwhelmed with thoughts and fears. So concentrated on his worries was he that he almost bumped into Kushina as she walked past him.

"Hello," he said darkly, looking up at her.

If it was possible, she greeted him even darklier.

"Hello, Hokage-sama."

Hearing her tone, he raised an eyebrow, searching her expression for signs that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." Kushina seemed on the verge of tears.

"I wouldn't say so."

"It's just that... I... my mother..." she inhaled deeply. "My mother died last night."

"Oh" was all he could say. He remembered her mother as a nice old woman, who was really fond of him. She was really old but last time he heard of her, she was as healthy as a horse.

She was breathing heavily, trying not to cry in the street,. He looked at her with sympathy.

"But...I shouldn't worry you with such things right now." Her sore throat made her voice croaky. "I'm sure you've got enough things on your mind as it is. I hear there was an emergency meeting this morning." She stopped, as if unable to talk more.

"Those news aren't good too. We are officially at war." He spoke quietly, feeling awkward to talk about such things right now, in the presence of her grief.

She seemed taken aback.

"R-really?"

He didn't say anything, knowing that talking wasn't going to help.

_Maybe I can ask her if she needs some help. But no, it won't be appropriate to remind her._

_Maybe I can ask him to help me. But no, that would be too insolent._

And they parted again, even more uncomfortably than last time.

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It was night, and the Hokage was still in his office, reading reports and answering official letters. Unfortunately, administrative work didn't go away in times of war. As a matter of fact, it was even more.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. His head was hurting.

_I'll continue tomorrow. _But he couldn't force his legs to move, as they were even more tired than his brain.

_It's all so complicated. And dangerous. And no one will help us, we are all alone._

He looked through the window to the starry sky.

_Is someone out there? A god perhaps? If there is one single god, please answer me!_

Nothing happened. He shook his head, realising how stupid he was being right now. The stars shone far above him deep into the night sky, like impassive observers of his turmoil.

_What was I expecting to happen anyway? _he asked himself.

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In another house in Konoha, Kushina was already lying in her bed. Tears were running down her cheeks, and she couldn't sleep.

_Why? Why? If someone is responsible for this, he will pay! _

"Do you hear me?!" she cried suddenly, tearing the silence apart. "Someone will pay for this!"

A dog started barking in the distance. No one answered.

She sighed. _If there is a God out there, why would he let such things happen? _

A distant chuckle sounded. This made her even angrier than before.

She stood up, with the intention to shout even more. But lead by an instant urge, she fell on her knees, suddenly realising she was powerless to do anything.

Kushina started praying.

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Minato was dreaming, and he knew that.

In his dream, he was striding along a corridor in the Hokage mansion. It was cold, so cold that he could see his breath as puffs of smoke.

There was bright and warm red light, coming from somewhere. He knew that it was very important to reach the source of that light, but it was somewhere far away, beyond the labyrinth of passageways and rooms. His pace quickened as his desire to reach the warmth was becoming more and more desperate. He opened doors, ran through halls. The Light was becoming stronger and stronger.

Finally he reached court room number three, where earlier that day the meeting had taken place. Minato opened a back door he was sure he had never seen before, and suddenly found himself not in another room, as he had expected, but standing in an endless field of grass. Mountains with snowy caps could be seen in the distance. The wind was blowing softly and the cold suddenly disappeared. But what surprised him even more, was that in front of him stood a man.

He was unnaturally tall, and much more handsome than Minato could ever imagine. The warm red light was coming from him, surrounded him as an aura. But what filled Minato with awe were the unknown man's eyes, because they were immensely deep, holding in their abyss the burden of eternity. No, not a burden, the Hokage corrected himself, because they seemed joyful and were sparkling with happiness.

"At last you came," he said.

"Who are you?" asked Minato, ignoring his greeting.

"I'm the one who's going to help you."

The Hokage's eyes widened.

"Why?" Minato grabbed a question from the quickly gathering thong.

The Son laughed.

"You asked for it."

Minato looked around.

"Am I dreaming?Or...Is it real?" he asked suspiciously.

"You _are_ dreaming, but that doesn't make it unreal. As a matter of fact, it is even more real that real life." He laughed again. "Before you ask the other question that is in your mind, the answer is yes, I brought you here on purpose."

"You—?" But before finishing his question, the man raised his hand to stop him.

"Your village is under a great threat. And you are the only one who can protect it."

Gathering his self-control, he said, "You mean the war?"

"Not the war. Not only the war. The demon fox."

"What fox?"

"A tailed beast, the ninth and last one."

Minato shuddered.

"What can I do about it?" he said, not questioning the righteousness of the last statement.

"I will help you with my guidance. You will be my... let's say, container. Through you I will be able to touch the material world and influence it."

"How?" Minato asked at last.

"I have chosen you for a long time, and now you have opened your mind for Me, giving your free human will to Me."

"I don't remember doing such a thing."

The God smiled. "When you prayed, Minato, when you prayed. You see, We live in the spiritual side of things, We are that side. But we cannot reach your side of the world, the side of matter, unless you humans open your heart and soul to Us. If you do not, we are powerless to do anything to help you or answer your prayers. We cannot even raise a pebble from the ground." he finished, the smile not getting off his face.

"But how—"

"Questions later, Minato. Now allow me."

And the Son reached out with his hands towards the Hokage's chest, and as he did that, his arms were getting longer and longer. Bright light erupted from them, swirled around Minato and blinded him.

"My scar is on you," the God whispered, and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. The place where his lips touched Minato's skin burned. "It's time to wake up."

As he said that, the wind, that was a slight breeze up to now, blew stronger and stronger and wiped him away. He was falling into a bottomless abyss and awoke with a start.


	3. Chapter 3: Inner Sight

**Note:**I know only big authors write dedications and I, a mere fanfiction writer, cannot afford to do such a thing. But I want to express my gratitude towards my first reader, who even reviewed. So, here I go:

_This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer, who made me continue writing._

CHAPTER 3 

Kushina was dreaming and she knew that.

She was walking on a forest path, which lead out of Konoha. The trees surrounding her were high and covered the night sky and she could only see the stars through small fissures, which illuminated the ground in front of her. In the air around her she could smell the freshness of plants, that had just been moistened from the slight spring rain. A light, that was neither moonlight or starlight, was coming from the forest and thanks to it she could see where she was going.

Suddenly, the path ended and before her was an endless field, flat as the sea. On the horizon, the sky turned suddenly grey, then unnaturaly fast orange and the first rays of the sun beaconed the earth and herself. Another figure was walking towards her, too high to belong to a human being, despite the unmistakable human features like legs and arms. Although She was with her back on the sun, the other Woman wasn't a black impalpable shadow, but was shining even brighter than the ball of fire behind her. The Goddess approached. Kushina's eyes narrowed.

„Uzumaki-san" the Daughter bowed respectfully. „You arrived."

„Where to?" the mortal woman asked.

„To me." the Daughter smiled. Her smile, unknowingly why, filled Kushina with awe and she bowed back, answering Her polite gesture.

Suddenly behind the first divine figure, another appeared, shining as brightly as the Goddess. He was dressed with a white cloak, and was shorter than Her. He smiled too, but His smile was more of a human one than Hers.

„I am the Bastard" he said, joyful sparkles in his deep, endless eyes."The God of demons and disasters."

„We called you, because great threat is upon your world." continued the Daughter.

„One of my strongest demons, the Nine-tailed fox, which is also the last of the tailed beasts, has found its way to your world. And you must stop it."

„I-I... How?" her shock overcame the awe of the presence of two Gods.

„We will give you the power, and you shall do the rest." the Fifth God answered.

The Daughter leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. The place where Her lips touched Kushina's skin, burned.

„My scar is on you" the Goddess whispered.

The Bastard leaned forward and sudden fear gripped her, when the God's lips touched hers. It was a passionate kiss she enjoyed, despite her terror.

„And my soul is in you." He said when He stepped backwards from her again.

„Now, Kushina-san, time to wake up" three voices said at once. Two of them belonged to the Gods, but the third one...

She was in her room, and someone was shaking her. Kushina opened her eyes slowly, unsure if she would see her sister, the one the third voice belonged to, or the place where she was until now.

„What...what is going on?"

Her sister narrowed her eyes.

„Nothing, it's just... well... you'll be late for the funeral" she said quickly, trying to hold her tears.

_So proud, _Kushina thought. _But I can't expect nothing else from her, since our mother taught us that way._

She stood up slowly, trying to smile with gratitude. The result was a grimace, something between frowning and an expression of pain. She started dressing up.

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Minato awoke with a start. He was in his office again, but this time lying on the floor. All over his body there were bruises and little cuts. His forehead burned.

_Wow! What have I been doing in my sleep?_

Judging by all the signs, he had been flailing around in his sleep. Broken shards of unfortunate sake bottles were all over the floor. Luckilly, no one had heard the noise that he had undoubtedly made while involuntarily ravaging his own office.

He got up carefully, expecting pain to shoot up his body, but since that didn't happen, he walked more confidently to the door.

With long, fast steps he quickly escaped the mansion, thist time not feeling it necessary to linger around, tidying it. He passed through the main gate, deep in thought.

_Okay, so what was this weird dream? Answer to my prayers? Or just one of my stupid dreams— _But he didn't finish his thought, because he knew it wasn't like this. It was too real to be a mere product of his hallucinations. That, and... he felt really odd right now, like he was too spacious, noticing things that he didn't pay attention to before.

For instance, there were those sparkles in the air, that surrounded every person he saw in the busy street. He was sure they had been ther before, just he hadn't been too... concentrated to see it. And now new and strange things swept over his senses. It all seemed sort of brighter than before.

Trying to protect his eyes from the shining rays of the sun, which were stronger than he remembered it from yesterday, he closed his eyelids for a moment and stopped with surprise.

A galaxy of lights, all sort of colours and shapes and sizes was all around him. He could see human-shaped ones, which were brighter than most of the rest, but were fewer. Trees, grass, pebbles, flowers, even the ground itself, were made out of this white shining material. Even the background wasn't dark but illuminated by all those... souls, he suddenly realised.

_I can see the matter of life, _he thought, shocked. _What the hell did they do to me? _

Behind all, there was something even more, which he didn't grasp at first. He couldn't see it really now too, although he was aware of its presence.

_No, it should be with a capital P. Big, enormous, all seeing and all thinking Presence. What is that? Why..._

He opened his eyes again. For his relief, with open eyes he could see normally, although there was still a pale shadow of the non material souls just beyond his sight.

_No way... But if this part of my dream turned out to be true, then what about... his warning? A Bijuu attacking Konoha?_

He didn't continue with his reasonings, because at that precise moment he saw Kushina, going out of her house in mourning dress, with a weeper covering her face. But that wasn't the reason he widened his eyes.

A cloud, a cloud of piercing light was surrounding her. He could see it even with his normal eyes, but as no one else turned around to look at her with awe, he still supposed he was the only one to be able to notice it. He shut out his normal vision again, but the aura became even more corporeal as it was contrasting with the black grief in her soul.

_So I can see feelings too? No, that's not it, it's more like her feelings reflect on her soul. _

Now, when he recovered from the shock of seeing her like this, he noticed that the light around Kushina was two-coloured—white and blue. And her soul seemed wider than normal, streched and dazzling white.

She raised her head to look at him and she froze too. Slowly shock replaced her dark expression. Apparently she saw something in him that was equally stunning as his discovery.

He walked slowly towards her, not knowing how to start the conversation. 'I'm sorry, but you are shining like a city on fire' didn't seem appropriate enough.

„A-are you okay?" he chose to say.

She narrowed her eyes. Her sister behind her did the same. She looked as if she was about to insult him, but a severe look from Kushina shut her mouth. For now.

„I could ask you the same question... Hokage-sama."

„W-why?" he asked, puzzled.

„Because you seem a little pale today." she put more stress to the word pale than he thought was necessary. _What is she seeing in me? _

„We should talk" she hissed under her breath in Minato's ear. „After the funeral."

And she walked away with her sister.

_Am I going mad? _He thought worried as he watched after her.

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The funeral ended. The people were slowly walking away, in groups of two and three. Kushina stayed behind, watching thoughtfully the ground that had sheltered her mother's coffin. Minato appeared from behind her shoulder.

„Yoshino. If you would be so kind, leave us please." she said, without turning back.

„But.."

„Please."

She frowned and lingered as long as possible, before finally leaving them alone.

Before he could open his mouth to speak, she said „Now, what was it that you wanted to talk about with me?"

„I thought you wanted to tell me something." he answered, surprised. Her aura was blinding him.

„Fine" she inhaled through her grinted teeth. „I-I can see something about you."

_Not the best beginning, _he noted mentally. But he knew he couldn't do it better, not now.

„What is it?"

„Well, it's kinda... hard to say."

„I know" she looked at him surprised. „I... my vision is also playng tricks today." he explained, seeing her unasked question raising into her eyes.

„Oh... well, if this is a trick, I don't know what isn't. Look, you may think I'm crazy and you may be absolutely right, but I see you... and that's only what I see, because no one else reacts... well, you sorta shine." She stopped, waiting for him to laugh or joke about it. When he remained silent, she continued, unsure whether it was just a bad joke he was preparing, or he really was acting serious. „Well, actually not sort of. You... well it's hard to look at you, because of this, hmm... aura of bright red light.

He held his breath in surpise.

„You too." he said. Kushina raised her head to look at him once more, eyes widened like plates.

„R-really?"

„Yes. But your light... is white and blue. Not red. But my eyes, or whatever I see you with right now, they burn when I look at you."

„What is that? Are we going mad?"

„I don't know. But I had this wierd dream..."

And he told Kushina about his vision.

„I...I had it too." she said after Minato had finished. „But it wasn't just one... God. They were two. A woman and a man with white cloak."

„That might explain the two-colored cloak of light around you."

„And that thing about the Kyuubi... Could it be true too?"

„I don't see why not. Although that worries me alot."

„But the war must end first, if your God's words were true." she noted.

_Hang on a sec, since when did we start talking about those... those... things in our dreams as Gods? Maybe we really are going crazy._

„So... What are we going to do?" he asked.

„I don't know. But in any case, we mustn't tell anybody else about this."

„Why not?" but the answer was already starting to form in his mind.

„Because they'll think we're crazy. And anyways, how can I be sure that your... anomaly is the same as mine?"

He sighed. _This is too complicated._

„Because of the same dreams... and... but i need to do one last test. Close your eyes."

„What--?"

„Just trust me."

Kushina did what he said. She gasped.

„Oh my God! It is so beautiful! But what is... is it... o... I can see you!"

He smiled too. Her childish enthusiasm was contageous.

„Well, if this is madness" she said when she opened her eyes again."I should've become crazy a long time ago."


	4. Chapter 4: Courage

**Note 1:**I worked faster than I thought I would, and as a result, here's the fourth chapter. Thanks, Mari Falcon, for your tips, I will consider them in further writing. Yes, I didn't want the Son to look too feminine, and sorry about that.

**Note 2:Hehe**, yes, I am sure that English isn't my native language, and I don't find my writing that perfect. It needs to be improved, but for start, that'll do too.

Hope you like it so far, although this turned out to be a crappy chappy. But I can't write a substitue right now.

**CHAPTER 4**

„If this is madness, I should've gone mad a long time ago." Kushina smiled as she said that.

Despite his worries, he smiled in return.

„But... If this is really a gift from the Gods, then... why exactly us? Why not someone else, who has, well, more experience with that stuff?" he asked.

„I don't think we need experience for that. And I don't think there's someone who has experience exactly with that."

„So, we are on our own." Minato concluded.

„Not exactly." said a deep voice that made them both gasp.

The grey autumn day disappeared. Minato and Kushina hadn't sensed when, but they weren't in Konoha any more. The dark sky turned bright blue and were only a minute ago there were gravestones, now stood high trees, so high that they could barely see their crowns far up in the sky. Certain freshness was in the air, a smell of flowers and rain.

They were standing in the middle of a circle formed of five Men and Women, each of them had a halo of light around their heads. Their faces were indistinguishable because of their auras, but they made Kushina and Minato fall on the ground in front of the Gods' feet with astonishment.

„Here is the final test you will all go through." said the same God who spoke to them while they were still on Earth. He was wearing shining golden armour and his light was cold and grey. „Stand up"

They obeyed.

Another God turned towards them, a woman, and Her aura was green and her melodical voice reminded them of long summer days.

„Our task is to guide you on Earth, so when you face the demons, you will have Our Protection. Do not fall into despair or turn away from Us, because We shall be always with you. May Our guidance never fail you!"

A tall figure of another woman, probably younger, opened his mouth to speak. Blue light was surrounding her and Kushina recognized her as the Goddess that she had dreamt last night.

„Do not avoid your original assignment out of fear or a transitory feeling of hopelessness. Hope there will always be, for We are with you, and our light will illuminate your way and you will not fail with this or any other task. This is Our promise!"

The Son of autumn leaned down, the bright red light intensified as he said:

„Never again say you are alone, because we are always with you."

A white flash, and all was gone. Minato and Kushina found themselves standing on their knees in the grass, the graveyard in front of them and the rain above and all over them.

The blue and white aura around Kushina had become even brighter. Judging by her narrowed eyes, his halo was shining more strongly than before too.

Minato spoke first, overcoming his surprise.

„Okay, it seems that all was true."

She looked at him.

„You doubted that? I mean, even if we were going crazy, it all would be true, although happening only in our heads."

"Not a very comforting thought, you know." he said, as if to smile, but gave up that idea in the last moment.

"It's still something."

He sighed. „Never turn your back to your original assignment, eh? What exactly is it? I personally find it hard enough only to persuade myself I'm not a looney, getting visions of... Gods and stuff. "

Her eyebrows joined.

„Why are you acting like that? So... cynically. Don't you get it? It's an unique chance to see what's it like and you... you are just being ironic and selfish."

„To see what what's like?" he asked darkly, deciding not to answer the insults.

„All. We're a material host for three Gods, for God's sake!"

Since he didn't answer, awkward silence fell upon them. They glanced at each other.

„I'm sorry about that" they both murmured at the same time. More nervous glances.

„So... Goodbye" she said, getting up.

„Urm... wait!" he called indecisively after her, when she was already at the exit of the graveyard. She turned around almost gratefully, happy because of the delay. „Urm... Do you need company?"

She smiled nervously. „Okay"

He hurried to stand up and catch up with her.

They walked for some time in silence. Their pace slowened when they went out on the main street, passing by lit windows of shops and restaurants. Suddenly he said: „Pretty fascinating, eh?"

„What?" she asked, puzzled.

„This whole thing. You know, Gods and stuff."

„Look who said that."

„Yeah, okay, I'm sorry about that too."

„Don't be. We are all confused right now."

„What a confusion it is! But you are right, it's... it may be strange, but I sort of like it."

Silence. At this time of the day, there usually was a crowd of people on the main street, but because of the bad weather, few busy shadows were walking past them, not saying a word. The rain had made out of the dirt mud and it was splashing at their every step, leaving boot prints from their feet which were quickly filled with water. They both didn't feel it necessary to cover their heads in order to protect them from the rain, as they didn't even sense it, each one deep on their thoughts.

Kushina stopped at the threshold of her house and looked back at him.

„Um... I guess it's goodbye for now, then."

„Y-yeah"

_Why don't I invite him in? _

„Well, goodbye." he said.

_Come on, girl! You want him to be... You want him! Come on, SPEAK! Open your mouth! Don't stand numb like and idiot there!_

„Would you..."

He turned around, waiting with hope. „Yes?"

Her lips moved, as if to say something, but no sound came out.

_Oh, God , I am going to ruin my chances like that. _

_As if there wouldn't be another chance to speak with him. _

_Yes, there wouldn't be. We are at war! He might go to the battlefield tomorrow, and you... you will have missed your chance out of stupidity!_

This finally gave her the courage to continue.

„Would you like to come in?"

„I..." he stopped. Kushina suddenly panicked. _What if he turns me down? Oh, no he really is going to turn me down!_

They stood for a while in silence, Kushina trying to read his expression for a hint that he would like the idea.

A tricky voice in his head said: _Remember how she embarassed you? You have the opportunity to return her the favour. _

_No, I can't._

„Okay, sure."

She smiled and opened the front door.

„Here, come in"

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His first impression of her home was that it was really neat and tidy. He remembered the chaos in his own office and smiled, ashamed.

„Leave your shoes over there, by the door. Let me take your jacket." she said.

He handed her his jacket and looked around. A comfortable-looking sofa was in the middle of the room, turned towards a wide-screen tv. A small round table was between the tv and himself with a tin of biscuits on its glass panel. There were several paintings on the walls, but he didn't look closely at them. He had never understood or appreciated art.

Minato was glad to take a peek at this little part of her personal life and absorbed every little detail of it. **(except the paintings LOL) **He was still where she left him when Kushina entered again.

„There are cookies over there and I made some tea earlier this morning because..." her voice faded away, choked by the still fresh grief. _This morning I burried my mother and the same afternoon I am here with a man. _

He turned around to look at her . Tears were running down her cheek again.

_What do I do now? _Minato asked himself nervously.

„Anyways" she started anew when she got control of herself once more. „ I'll go get the tea." And she ran downstairs to the basement, leaving him alone once more.

_I don't want to leave her alone like this. I want to comfort her. _But he didn't know how and he felt like an intruder right now. This wasn't his place to be at the moment. _Why did I accept her invitation in the first place? To magnify her sorrow?Maybe I should leave. _

But that was as equally insolent as being in her home. He sat on her sofa, his previous joy gone without a trace. Waiting for her to return, he stared blankly at one spot directly in front of him, feeling uncomfortable because of her.

_That wasn't how I wanted it to happen. _Remembering his childish dreams of his firts date, he smiled wearily, almost as if he was ashamed to feel nostalgic happiness in this house.

_How long should it take her to bring the tea? Maybe she's in trouble. Should I go downstairs?_

He stood up, made a couple of steps and stopped, hesitating. _What if she doesn't want to see me right now?Perhaps that's why she's staying downstairs. _

But would Kushina invite him in her house if she didn't want to see him? He began descending the stairs with more confidence. Minato was now able to hear quiet weeping from the kitchen.

She was on the floor, near the broken shards of a teapot and was crying. He walked towards her and Kushina raised her head and whispered weakly:

„I'm sorry I'll just..." but she couldn't continue. He kneeled beside her.

_Now what? Damn, how did I decide to do this?_

„I... It's okay, I'll clean it up" he reassured her. He made several handsigns and the pieces joined together to form the teapot, whole again.

„Th-thank you" she said between the sobs.

For a moment his goofy smile appeared on his face, then it went serious again. He leaned down beside Kushina and put his hand on her shoulder. As if this touch had given her strength, she stood up, wiping her tears, followed by him.

„I am so sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me" she finally was able to finish.

„I know" surprising mostly her, and partly himself, he hugged her.

For a moment she stood still, surprised by his action. Then, grateful for the warmth he was giving her, she hugged him in return.

„Urm..." he had expected her to repel him, not to answer him.

They let go, nervous.

„So, about the tea—"

„Don't worry about it." he interrupted Kushina. „We can live without it."

She smiled weakly. He smiled in return.

_Come on, what are you waiting for? Kiss her!_

_Come on, what are you waiting for? Kiss him!_

_You want her, right? _

_You want him, right? _

He was looking into her eyes, deep and black. She was looking into his.

„Urm.." he coughed nervously and almost immediately regretted for that. The magic of the moment was lost.

But she didn't take her eyes off him. And he didn't too.

_There is still a chance _he thought happily. They leaned forward a liitle closer to each other. Both Minato and Kushina didn't make a sound. They closed their eyelids...

At first the kiss was innocent, almost childish as their passions collided. Then it grew deeper and deeper when his hands found their way to her cheeks and the back of her head. She joined her hands behind his waist and moved his body closer to hers.

After a few minutes... or several sunny days, they let go. A sudden voice tore the silence apart.

„Kushina? What are you doing?" her sister had stopped in the middle of the stairs, leading to the second floor.

Kushina backed off and looked at the other woman fiercely.

„Nothing, Yoshino" she answered with an angry tone. Casting an apologetic look towards Minato, she walked to her sister.

_I hope she tears Yoshino apart when I'm gone. _Disappointment was struggling in him, but he only voiced his intention to leave this awkward scene as soon as possible.

„I was just leaving"

„Yes, you just leave, Hokage-sama" Yoshino said, narrowing her eyes.

He walked slowly towards the exit. He and Kushina glanced for one last time, and trying to read by her eyes something, he stopped at the door, When he found what he was seeking for, he smiled and left.

As he was splashing the mud under his feet, only one thought was racing in his mind.

_We kissed. She wanted it too, I could see it._

With that, the guilty feeling for kissing her at the day of her mother's funeral was almost gone. Almost.


	5. Chapter 5: Madness

**Sorry about the delay, but from now on new chapters will go out with a longer waiting period.**

**Here is the new one.**

**Please read and review. **

CHAPTER 5 

Rain. It was raining again and the dark grey sky seemed to surpress down all happiness. Konoha slept under the cloak of the storm, although it was already morning. No one was out of his bed right now.

Suddenly, a voice cried something out loud. A man was running down the street towards the Hokage mansion and was shouting something, indistinguishable because of the pouring rain and the thunderbolts that occasionally lit the dark day. The guards at the front gate stopped him, with the apparent intention to nag at him. He continued shouting, but this time they heard him.

„We are at war! Let me go! Earth soldiers are invading the Grass! I need to see the Hokage!"

Finally, they let him go. Some news can't be ignored even by foul-mooded men, who have stood under the downfall all morning.

„Okay, wait here. We'll go and bring Hokage-sama."

„For God's sake!" the messenger cried, irritated, and ran into the yard behind the red walls that surrounded the tower.

--

Namikaze Minato was sleeping, this time in his bed, in the room next to his office. He woke up, startled by someone who was running along the corridor.

He had already gotten up, when the heavily-breathing shinobi ran into his bedroom.

„Namikaze-sama! It's an emergency!

_Oh, God_Those words usually meant no good for him.

„Earth ninja are invading the land of Grass!" he continued, panicked.

„What!?"

„Quickly, to hall number three!"

--

The rain had stopped, and now the sun was shining brightly, taking it's task to dry up everything very seriously. It was late afternoon and all seemed quiet and calm.

„WHAT?!" a sudden cry echoed. „HE LEFT?"

„B-but, wait Uzumaki-sama, you can't go in there—" The guards from the morning had been changed and now a nervous young man was trying to hold down a fierce woman. A hard and almost impossible task, as he was about to find out.

„Let me go, you bastard!" after that there was a second of struggling and the guard fell on the ground, clenching his broken arm, which he was so unreasonable to stretch in the way of Kushina. She stormed past him, swearing unknowingly who. Despite his injury, the guard followed her and made the second big mistake in his life as it was about to become his last, if he wasn't saved by his more sensible colleague.

Just a mere furious glance was needed to pacify the guards of the inner gate, because they had seen the fate of their unfortunate friend. Although they didn't do anything to stop her, she still cursed them as the gate fell into pieces, unable to withstand her rage.

„YOU!" she screamed at the first man to cross her way in the main corridor. He turned out to be Jiraya.

„Oh, Kushina-sama, what a pleasant—"

„Don't give me that! When did the Hokage leave and who send him on this mission?"

„No one did." he said, surprised. „He is the Hokage, after all, no one can command him."

„Then who PROPOSED this?"

„Namikaze-sama himself, Kushina-san. He considered it his duty to lead our men to war. This morning he left with his students to the Grass country."

„THAT—"

„STOP THIS RACKET IMMEDIATELY! I NEED SOME PEACE AND QUIET!" Tsunade shouted, on the top of her voice, emerging from a room next to them. Crashes of broken glass resounded in the distance. The other woman and the Frog Hermit found themselves pressed against the wall opposite her. „JIRAYA! YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU..." at that moment she saw Kushina, and the few windows that survived the first sound attack were spared from further devastation.

Trying as hard as possible to keep a low and calm voice, she continued through grinted teeth.

„Kushina-_chan_, what is the meaning of this?" Tsunade hissed, putting extra stress on the word she used to address her.

Kushina didn't find it reasonable to shout to the female Sannin, and instead of this answered her in a deliberate cold manner.

„Nothing, Tsunade-_sama_" she said, following her example. „ I was just wondering whose idea sent Hokage-sama to his death."

„No other but his own, and it seems to me that you are underestimating his fighting skills, Kushina." this time he left the name hanging in the end of the sentence, without any suffix.

„Oh, I am NOT, Tsunade." her cold tone could turn water into ice for a second. „ But it seems to _me_, that _you_ are underestimating the enemy he will stand up against. Currently, the country of Earth is the most powerful shinobi country, and I am not sure you are aware of this." she finished with an angry stare.

„Oh, I am aware of this. But Hokage-_sama_ is an amazing shinobi, as_you_ ought to know."

Seeing the malice grow between them, Jiraya tried to interfere.

„Ladies, could you—"

„STAY OUT OF THIS!!"

Distant crashes. Shards of glass were falling like rain in the yard bellow them. There was already a Jiraya-shaped dent in the wall.

„Okay" a small voice answered them, muffled by the wall his face was pressed against. „Can't argue with you."

„Goodbye, Kushina-san." finished the conversation offhandedly Tsunade, shutting the door under the other woman's nose.

Muttering some words under her breath, Kushina departed.

„If I may say—"

Absent-mindely, she punched him and sent him flying through the corridor.

„Ouch!" he said upon landing on the floor.

--

She passed again through the gate and the guard began shivering when he saw her. She didn't even look at him, deep in her own rage.

_Those stupid, stupid people! How could they let him go? _Her eyes became watery, as she couldn't oppose her disappointment and grief with anger any more. She quickly brushed them away with her hand, hoping no one had seen that.

She was walking along the street when suddenly she felt someone's Presence in her mind. She stopped, beginning to panic. _Hey, what the hell is this? Stop it, whoever you are! _

A voice muttered: „Interesting. Why did you punch that man?"

She looked around but no one was near enough to her so that she could hear his voice so clearly.

„In here."the voice spoke again, apparently greatly amused by her fuddle.

_In where? _She thought, confused.

„In your head, Kushina."

„Who—who are you?"she said aloud. People stared at her.

„Someone you would never like to meet." the mysterious Person said and this time she heard the voice coming from behind her. Kushina turned around fast.

A man with white robes was standing there, unruffled even when a human passed through him, without even noticing the God's presence. White light was surrounding this time not only his head, but his entire body, as he seemed to draw sunlight towards him, leaving the surroundings a bit darker. His garb was perfectly white, not a single spot on it and he was smiling, although in a manner she didn't like at all for behind that smile one could easily see that He had ulterior motives.

„Go away!" she cried in a sudden outburst of anger. „I didn't want you! I didn't want any of you into my mind!"

People were now awkwardly walking away from her, as if she was contagious. No single one of them heard the answer.

„But you did, Kushina-san you did. And We answered."

„But...I DID NOT MEAN THAT!"she was shouting, relieved that there was someone to be angry at.

The Bastard raised his eyebrow.

„And what did you mean then? Perhaps we should have satisfied your wish, which is impossible, and left? But we can't do that, sweet Kushina, we can't do that. Not unless you want your village out of danger."

„And why are you suddenly concerned about the fate of my village? Aren't there so much other people in the world?" she hissed.

„Yes, there are and how do you know that at that moment I am not there too? With other people?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but did not. He looked at her for a little while, until she said contumaciously, despite knowing she had lost the argument: „You can't be in two places at once."

„Oh, I can. I can be anywhere I want and in another place at the same time, sweet Kushina." he stopped, thoughtful. „I must think of another name to call you, Kushina is too long."

Realising that the conversation had become totally ridiculous, she still persisted.

„What do you have against my name?"

„It does not show who you truly are. No name would, unless it is so long that it would take your entire life just to say it."

Kushina grunted. The God seemed taken aback.

„Anyways, I've come here for a purpose, not only to nag at you."

„And what is it?"

„Work, my dear. What can We offer you other than work?"

„Something not so egoistic." she was still furious.

„Oh, sometimes you have to be egoistic. Right now, another One of Us is with Minato." after seeing her expression, he added: „Don't worry, he will return alive. We can't afford to sacrifice him. Yet."

„You bastard! What does that mean?"

„It means he still has a part to play in Our plans."

„So we are only puppets for you, then. You—"

„Most of the humanity can't be anything else save puppets, because they are deep into their own illusions. You however..." and he smiled. „You are different."

„And why?"

„Because you see me." the smile wasn't getting off his face. „And you are the only one who can fulfil the task I am about to give you."

He stopped, waiting for her to respond angrily, but she didn't. He touched her lips with his finger tips and she backed off as if his touch burned, but still remained silent.

„One of my demons has escaped through a hole the Kyuubi made and is currently here, in Konoha."

„And this is my concern because...?"

„You are my instrument. My container here, in the world of matter. The demon is with another human and I can't reach it except through you."

„And why should I help you return it?" she lifted her chin proudly.

„Because it is not only my concern, but yours also. Demons shouldn't be allowed to walk this land freely."after brief silence, he added: „And because it will be training for the bigger one."

„I didn't ask for this."

He only smiled. The white light faded and he was gone.

„Come back!" she cried. „Come back, you..." she couldn't finish, as she fell to her knees. The street had returned to its original colours and she could see people ambling past her quickly, as if afraid they might get a disease from her. _Curse them all. _

Her inner vision flashed with new and unknown sights. Human souls were shining, some stronger than others. Above it all was a net of purple strings, crossing over the town.

_What is that..._

She started following the purple lights**.**


	6. Chapter 6: A Demon And a Boy

**Note:There is the third review!! (starts dancing like crazy) A whole lot of three people are reading my story!!! Yeah, the beginning of the quotations go to the bottom, and I'm not sure what typo means, but I'll risk and say, yes, it's a typo. It has been fixed, by the way.**

**And I'm sooo ignorant when it comes to grammar. I think I know what you mean, Ksa, but still, can someone explain to me thoroughly what does parallel structure mean?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and all the characters, Masashi Kishimoto is the proud owner. I do not own Louise Bujold's Gods and ideas. Well, that's it. **

CHAPTER 6 

Kushina followed the thickest line of the net, which was shining above the main street. She was looking upwards, bumping occasionally into people, but didn't stop to apologize to them. Few of them also turned their gazes to trace hers, but since non of them found anything, they didn't linger around her.

The string soon led her to one of the back streets, which was narrow and dark and piles of garbage stood in her way. She was almost running now, striding between the heaps, following the purple light. Soon only it illuminated her way, as the blue sky was hidden above the eaves of the houses. She could tell the source was already nearby. She turned around a corner and froze.

In front of her was a small weeping child, his hair was falling over its face so she couldn't see it at first. It didn't raise its head at her approach, in fact, it didn't react in any way. But not because of the child did she stop with terror, but because of what her inner sight saw. A dark shadow had replaced where she already knew the child's soul should be. It didn't have any particular shape, but it turned its blurry head towards her and froze too. Then it seemed to shrink, to roll around itself, until she could barely see it. White substance, the kid's soul, filled the emptiness which the demon had left, but it was ripped into pieces, and parts of it were missing. She concentrated on the black monster, and yes, it was eating something, clinching it with its talons.

_What is that?_ She thought in terror.

"Oh, it's just a demon that escaped from my dominion."

"You again!"

Upon hearing Kushina's voice, the little boy raised it's head and looked at her. His eyes were filled with tears.

"Please, help me!" he said between the sobs.

"How... Why did you bring me here?" she turned frustrated to the Presence.

"Because you have to help him, of course."

"How?" she asked and her anger disappeared as fast as it had risen.

But He didn't answer.

"Damn." she cursed, and turned back to the child. Pity filled her at the sight of the miserable and desperate boy. _I must be able to help him. Otherwise I would not be here._

She searched, concentrated again on the shadow and thought as hard as she could about ripping it off, separating it from the human soul. Nothing happened.

She turned her attention on the demon again. The black figure seemed to sense her intention and shrank even more, clenching harder on the boy's soul.

_How do I get it out? _She asked herself once again.

Suddenly an idea raised in her mind, and she almost gasped. _That wasn't it! I am just supposed to stretch my hands and grab it! _She looked down at her palms. _Obviously, not these. But do I have other hands?_

Kushina sensed power rise into her. _I do. _Focusing this time on herself, she tried to shape her own strength in a form, imitating her material hands. White fire burned into her and she could sense the power of the God also getting stronger . His Presence was more tactile now, wrapping her soul in His armour, while all other feelings disappeared, leaving only her confidence and a sentiment of power.

She stretched out her spiritual hands and reached for the demon. It was trying to escape, flailing around in the child's stomach. But nothing could save it from its God, and the creature was soon in her firm grip, while she was separating it from the boy. Parts of human souls were shining into the monster's mouth, and Kushina easily recognized the missing pieces which originally had belonged to the human being in front of her.

"What should I do with them?"

"They aren't your concern. Return those to the child, but the rest belong to people already dead, and are Ours to take care of."

The demon was trying desperately to escape her, but she didn't let go. It was already halfway between the boy and herself, pulled slowly but steadily towards her and the God. Kushina opened its mouth, still operating with her immaterial hands and grasped the shining substance, pushing it away to its owner. The child's eyes opened wide and the he fell unconscious.

"And where do I put this?" she pointed at the struggling creature.

"Eat it."

"What?!"

"Eat it. I'll take it from there."

Unsure, she pulled it to her mouth, and swallowed it. Instantly she felt the shadow trying to grab her soul, but the God's Presence had wrapped her tightly and it couldn't get past it. His hands formed a strong grip around the demon, pulled it inwards in Himself, and then it was gone.

"What..was that it?"

"Yes."

"But... And what happened to the kid? What did this creature do to him?"

"He'll survive. But better take him with you, until he recovers. His name is Arashi, by the way, and he is homeless."

She looked at the kid with new pity. His hair was black and short, his face and body thin and pale from starvation. Kushina picked him up on her hands and took him to her home.

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It was already night when she passed the threshold of her house with the kid on her hands. She lit the lamps in the living room and walked carefully to the stairs in the other end of the premises. The bedrooms were on the second floor, and she left the kid there, in the guest room. She felt sudden warmth and pleasure at the sight of the kid, who stirred in the comfort of the bed and, still unconscious, gripped with his hands the end of the blanket.

_Will I ever have children?_ That thought suddenly stroke her. _And if I have, will Minato be the father? _

She quietly went downstairs and turned off the lights.

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It was morning again and the living room was illuminated by the rising sun. Kushina was sitting on the sofa, drinking tea. She hadn't slept all night, thinking about yesterday's events. After she left the kid in the bedroom, she had found a note on the table, announcing her in a formal and a cold way that Yoshino had gone to a mission, and was not likely to return in a few weeks. That was better for the boy, because her sister would never allow him to stay.

She sensed the child was on the stairs before she heard the creek of a loose floorboard. He was looking around the living room with wonder, apparently not remembering how he had gotten here. _What was his name... Arashi?_ then glanced at her with fear and surprise and quickly removed his gaze off her to look at the paintings, hanging on the wall.

"Are you hungry?"

Arashi nodded.

"Come here."

He took a few careful steps towards the table and sat on a wooden chair opposite Kushina. She then handed him a bowl of rice and watched as he emptied it quickly, skilfully operating with the chopsticks.Despite his fear, he raised his head to meet her eye again and the unspoken plea made her smile. She went to refill his bowl.

After Arashi finished eating, he said with a thin and croaky voice: "Who are you?" Every word came out of his mouth slowly, clearly it was hard for him to speak at all.

"I'm Uzumaki Kushina. You are in my house right now, in Konoha."

His eyes widened at the mention of the village's name.

"Ko-konoha?"

She nodded. There was a moment of silence, then Arashi asked again:

"You saved me, right? From the..."

"Yes." she felt awkward at the recall of it.

"I-I saw you. You were surrounded by a strange light. " and he turned his eyes from her again, as if afraid he would be blinded if she decided to shine again.

"I... I was."

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During the whole day he slowly was recovering from the shock of the demon. She led him out to walk around Konoha, and tell him everything she knew about its history.

"This is the Hokage's house." she said when they arrived in front of the red tower and the wooden gate. "The leader of our village lives here." Kushina suddenly fell silent, unable to continue. _Minato... I wonder where are you right now._

Arashi gazed at her, but asked nothing more. He quickly forgot this when they reached the training grounds. He watched, mouth open, as shinobi from all ages were fighting, and shrieked, running behind Kushina, when a kunai flew to them. She easily deflected it and started shouting at the two struggling ninja who had accidentally sent the weapon flying towards them.

"You morons!! Can't you see there is a child here! And if he was alone? If there was no one to protect him, you stupid..."

Arashi slowly emerged from behind her and walked cautiously to the kunai, stuck in the dirt. He took it and began examining it. Wavering, he chose a target around five hundred feet away and aimed for the red spot in the centre. Kushina had stopped shouting, and was now watching him along with the two shinobi, victims of her anger, their gaze drawn by his unusual actions.

The boy sent the kunai flying. The target fell down from from the power of the impact and Kushina's mouth fell open with surprise. She ran quickly to the spot of the fallen target, beyond the stream that crossed training ground number three and cried: "That's impossible! It's Bull's Eye!"

"What?" the two shinobi whispered and looked at the boy with amazement. Arashi seemed no less surprised than they were.

Other groups now ceased fighting and ran towards Kushina. They whispered with awe, wondering who had made this perfect shot. Some of them looked to Arashi, five hundred feet away from them.

Kushina returned to him.

"How did you do it?"

He shook his head, unable to speak.

"Maybe you were a ninja before..." she paused, thoughtful. "Do you remember anything before I... found you?"

This time he answered with words.

"No, I... don't even know my name."

_Amnesia? Caused by the demon? But I returned his missing soul parts and memories. _

"It is not because of the demon he doesn't remember anything." said the Voice she already recognized as His. She turned around. The world suddenly became even more lucent and full of colour as the white figure only she could see was approaching, brighter than the sun.

"Then why?"

"His village was attacked by bandits and they took him from his mother, who was murdered. He was tortured and left behind, and after that the demon got hold of him, leading him here."

"Kushina-san..." it was the first time she heard him use her real name and she thought he had forgotten it. Kushina turned towards him.

"Who...is that?"he asked, pointing at the God behind her.

Silence followed his question.

**PLEASE read and review.**


	7. Chapter 7: Naruto

**Urm , I'm not sure this is a very good chapter, but still, here it is! Thank you, ksa, for explaining me what parallel structure means, I'll make sure to remember it. Thank you, Mari Falcon, ksa, umeki and yondaimehokagefan for being great Reviewers, both critical and encouraging! Keep up the good reviewing!**

CHAPTER 7 

"You—you can see him?" Kushina asked, getting over the first shock. But there was no doubt about it—he was looking directly towards the God's eyes, and his finger was pointing at the source of the divine light no one except her...and Arashi could see. Nobody paid them any attention, as they all were still admiring the good shot.

Now Arashi lowered his arm, looking worriedly at her. His eyes were wide and fear mixed with surprise rose in them, as he met her gaze.

"Can't you?" he asked.

"Yes, I can. But no one else does."

The white figure was watching them patiently. They both looked at him.

"Is this a leftover of the demon's powers?" she asked.

"No. It's a leftover of a God's powers."

"What?"

"He was originally chosen by the Son of autumn."

"The Son? The one who is haunting... I mean, chose Minato?"

"Yes."

"But then why can't I see him shining?" she asked, the looked back at Arashi, trying to detect divine aura.

"You can't, because the God...left him."

Kushina's eyes narrowed.

"Why? Because he served his purpose and you didn't need him any more?" anger appeared in her tone once again.

"No."

They waited for further explanation, but when such didn't follow, Kushina spoke again.

"Then why?"

Arashi's eyes were darting between her and Him, tense, waiting for the response.

The God sighed. No emotion could be read by his face and Kushina doubted he could feel anything except amusement at her anger and confusion. His eyes were also closed for feelings, and only the immense abyss of eternity looked back at her when she met them.

"It happened during the tortures. You do know, that a human can only be possessed by a God, when he gives his will away freely to Him?" She nodded shortly. "Well, I am going to expand your knowledge of theology. Human fear, denial and uncertainty close that... door between him and the God, because the soul can't serve Us when it is in fear of our incapability to protect it from tortures of the flesh and even death. Yes, We can't since Our power is only in the world of spirit, not of matter. He--" at this point he pointed at the boy. "—being threatened by bandits, closed himself to the God,."

"So what you are saying is that...it's his fault that the Son left him?"

Arashi, who was becoming paler and paler during the whole conversation, now let out a shriek of fright at her words, apparently deciding he was blamed for a great mistake and was to be punished severely for it.

Again, sympathy rose in her as she saw his frightened face. She tried to calm him down by putting a hand on his shoulder. He shuddered and quickly backed off, afraid of her touch.

"Yes." there was another sigh, and with that He fell silent. People were now turning towards them, wondering who were they talking to.

"So...What is to become with him?"

"Nothing." the God answered. "He may do as he will; perhaps the Son will search for him again, but it won't be soon." And with those words he disappeared, leaving a full of compassion and partly anger woman and a sobbing child, who had decided he was about to be penalized. Some of the shinobi walked slowly to them, but then suddenly Arashi sprinted away as fast as his short legs would allow.

"Arashi!" she cried after him, and the stood up and ran to catch up with him.

The ninja exchanged confused glances and nervous whispers, but soon decided it didn't have anything to do with them. Metallic sounds of clashing kunais resonated in the air again, and only two figures still stood looking in the direction the child and woman had disappeared, and whispered worriedly.

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She found him after half an hour, sitting down on the ground, clenching his knees and trembling. He was in a dark narrow street, not so full of garbage as the place she first found him. He wasn't breathing heavily after the long run, but he didn't seem alright at all , since his face was pale and he was staring in a spot in space right in front of him with terror.

"Arashi?" she called him uncertainly.

His head turned towards her and he shrieked.

"It's all right, no one will hurt you." she said with what she hoped to be a calm and comforting tone. He didn't move, but it was mostly because his limbs were paralysed with fright.

"Arashi, don't listen to Him. He was not right. No one will do anything to you any more, I swear."

He was still looking at her, motionless. The he spoke:

"Do you promise?"

She nodded, adding: "I do. While you are with me, no one will do any harm to you." Faint smile. "And I can't go back on my words, I'm a ninja."

He tried to stand up, but his legs failed him. She offered him a hand, which after a brief hesitation he took and managed to stand up, but still couldn't move.

"Come, I'll carry you."

And she lifted him up on her arms, very much like their first meeting. He didn't protest, in fact he even settled himself more comfortably. She could sense he was cold, but he relaxed gratefully in her hands, while she was carrying him to her... their... home, giving him her warmth.

For a while they walked in silence. Clouds had veiled the sun and the sky again, but the day wasn't as cold as the previous one. It didn't seem it was going to rain soon, but nevertheless she hurried to the house, afraid something else would happen, that could separate them again. When they were halfway to their destination, he asked, surprising her that he was still able to talk:

"Today, you called me twice Arashi. Is that... was that my name?"

She lowered her head to meet his eyes. They were wide and bright blue, strongly contrasting his black hair. On the left side of his face he had three horizontal marks, just like whiskers made probably by sword, which she saw for the first time. His skin was slowly regaining its colour after the terror and the shock.

"Yes, that was what He... I was told."

He fell silent once more.

_His eyes look just like Minato's. His face would resemble the Hokage's also, if it wasn't for the scars._

She gently stroke his hair, feeling him tensing himself at first when she touched him, but soon slackened.

"If you don't like that name, we can change it." _And erase whatever bitter and terrible memories it holds. _

He nodded.

"Hm." she fell silent, thinking. Absent-mindely, she was still stroking his head, while walking.

"How about... Kiba? I see you have a really nice necklace with an animal fang. (**Kiba means "fang")**"

Once more his face went pale with terror and he reached for the necklace, trying to remove it. After that he shook his head violently in denial.

"Okay..." she said, surprised by his reaction. "Not Kiba."

Kushina fell in thoughts for a little longer.

"Then... would you like to be called... Shino?" she gazed at him a little longer and concluded, repelling her suggestion by herself. "No, that won't do."

Suddenly a name popped up in her head. She looked once more at the spiky **black**hair the large blue eyes and the scars on his face. _Yep, this is it. It fits. In fact, it's the perfect name for him. If I had a son, I'd name him that way. _

"I'll call you... Naruto. Is that okay?" she raised an eyebrow.

Arashi/Naruto thought for a while, then nodded. It was a good name.

"Okay." she smiled. "You are Naruto."

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The village was already in dusk, as the sun had hid behind the mountain, when they arrived at the door of Kushina's house. She opened it, and stepped in.

"You already know where your bedroom is, don't you, Naruto?"

He shook his head.

"Here, I'll lead you. Would you like to go to bed?"

He shook his head again, this time accompanying his gesture with a word: "No."

"Then what would you like to do?"

"I'm hungry."

She smiled. "Okay, wait here. I'll cook something."

He raised his head to meet her eyes and, as if afraid to say so, he spoke uncertainly and slowly: "I can help."

"Oh, that would be great!"

He didn't smile in return, but didn't run away also, so he seemed to like the idea.

_Ara...Naruto is still too frightened. But it'll pass._

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"Naruto! Get down here this instant!"

The black-haired boy only smiled and stuck his tongue out, then slid down the parapet of the stairs.

_Geez, that boy..._she thought, annoyed.

Two weeks had passed since she found him, and he was reviving pretty fast. _Too fast_. But nothing could be done about it, and Kushina was even happy he was now lively and joyful. On the inside, she smiled, but tried to keep her face as severe as possible, although it wasn't easy at all.

"Naruto! How many times have I told you not to do that!"

He widened his eyes, stuck his lower lip out and made a cute puppy face.

_Argh, why can't I be angry at him a little longer?"_

"Okay, okay, I forgive you."

He smiled widely.

_He even smiles the same way as Minato..._

"Mom, why are you making sad faces?" he asked.

During his stay with her he had started calling her "mom", although he was an orphan and she wasn't a relative of his, but she didn't correct him. She didn't have the heart to.

_I made a sad face? Perhaps at the thought of Minato... _

"Mom, stop it! Today's a happy day!" he insisted. She smiled. Naruto was still very sensitive.

"I'm sorry, dear. Of course it's a happy day! Today you start learning at the Academy!"

"Yes!"

She had had much troubles convincing the Elders and the Council of the village, who ruled it while the Hokage was away, to include his name in the list of citizens. _They are a bunch of mummies, who have something stuck up their butts, _she thought fiercely. But after he was accepted as a full-fledged inhabitant of Konoha, it was easy for him to apply for the ninja Academy, and he entered. Now he was going to become a full-fledged shinobi. _But God, thank you I am not the teacher who will have to deal with this kid. He certainly is energetic, and he is pretty smart, but all he uses his brain and energy for is to make mischiefs._

Kushina watched him run around the living room, while she was preparing his stuff for the first day at school.

"And I want you to remember... Naruto!"

"But he wasn't listening. He was jumping around, knocking down furniture, and certainly all the noise he was making was enough to muffle her own voice.

"NARUTO!" she shouted at the top of her voice.

"Uh, yes?" he made a guilty face.

"I want you to remember to be nice with other children, and MOST importantly, behave yourself!"

"Okay." he smiled.

_Oh God, it's so hard to be mad at him when he smiles. _

"Now, lets go!" she grabbed hi hand. He started running, dragging her behind him.

"Oh, so you wanna run? Catch me, if you can!" she teased and ran as fast as she could, leaving him far behind.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Kushina heard him shout.

"Ho, if you think you live in a fair world, kiddo, then think again!" she answered.\

His face went red with anger and he also switched to top speed. "You just wait, I'll catch you!"

They ran like this all the way to the Academy. At the end he almost caught up with her.

"Nice work, shortie" she said, patting him on the back.

"Hey! I'm not short!" he demanded.

She laughed. "Of course you aren't, shortie."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Sorry." she laughed again.

"Next time, you're dead!"

"Okay, I said I'm sorry."

"No, not that. Next time, I'll beat you! I'll catch up with you and outrun you!"

"Oh. I bet you will."

He was panting heavily, demonstrating his decisiveness with a fierce face.

"Now, run quickly over there! The ceremony is about to start!" she reminded him. Taken aback, he ran quickly to the group of first-years.

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"And there is this kid in our class, who's just awesome!" three hours later he was explaining to Kushina , excited. "You can't imagine how good he is!"

"Yeah, right." she said. "I bet you're much better than him."

He smiled.

"But he still is awesome!" his face suddenly darkened. "And there was this one, who was mocking me. He said I was stupid and ugly." Naruto pointed at the scars on his face. "But the other one I told you about, he stood up for me!" His happy face returned. "And now the whole class hates the guy who insulted me."

"What's the awesome guy's name?"

"Hyuuga Neji! And he offered me to do some kunai training with me, if I wanted."

"And do you?"

"Of course! We'll meet tomorrow at noon at training ground number two!"

Kushina smiled. "And want do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

He stopped, deep in thought.

"I think I'm going to train." he said in a serious tone. "After all, I'm a student now, I have to be responsible!"

"Hmmm... How about I train you now?"

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The rest of the day passed in training. Only when the first stars showed up on the night sky, did Naruto agree to go home.

"You need to have strength for tomorrow's training as well." she said, and that convinced him to agree with her and go home.

"You now go straight to bed, young man." she demanded in an imperative tone as soon as they got to Kushina's house, and pointed at the second floor.

He protested. "I'm hungry!"

Kushina sighed. "Okay, but only if you help with the cooking and the dishes afterwards."

With his help, dinner was ready soon, and they sat around the wooden table in the dining room above the kitchen. After he ate seven bowls of rice and all the sushi they had, he smiled happily and patted himself on the stomach.

"Oh, that was good."

She raised an eyebrow."I sure hope it was good, because you ate all the food we have home, and tomorrow you will go shopping with me."

"Mooom" he whined.

She raised a finger.

"No whining! This is an order!"

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After they did the dishes, he went to bed, accompanied by Kushina.

"Good night, sweetheart." she said and kissed him on the forehead.

"Good night, Mom." he answered and closed the door of his bedroom."

She entered her own bedroom, which was opposite his. Changing into a night-gown, Kushina lay in bed.

Her thoughts, as usual, were directed to Minato.

_I wonder where is he. He should've returned a week ago. _With anger, she remembered the God's words_. "We can't afford to sacrifice him yet." "Bastard!" _To which he had answered_ "Exactly." _

Suddenly a noise startled her. She stood up quickly, looking around. It had come from the window, but the heavy curtain blocked her eyesight and she couldn't see what was going on outside. _Crap. If it's a burglar, he'll pay dearly for breaking in._

She cautiously moved towards the window, gripping hard a kunai. With a swift motion she pulled the curtain back and risked a peep at the black figure, standing on the ledge.

"Minato?!"

**Please read and review.**


	8. Chapter 8: A Not Very Well Given Mission

**Okay, here's the next chapter...yeah. I decided to treat you all who read my story. But I won't update so often as soon as we get back to school ;( Our teachers were on strike for about a month or so, but its over now. And for that reason, new chapters will be delayed. Sorry, do not judge me, judge my teachers, who will be furious we have missed so much lessons and will overload us with work. Sorry.**

**Please read and review!!! **

CHAPTER 8

"Uh, yeah." he smiled. His voice was muffled by the thick glass. "Could you open, please?"

She quickly opened the window, letting him in. As soon as he entered, she closed it again hastily, because the night's chill had made its way into the bedroom along with him.

"But didn't you detect me earlier?" he asked, apparently surprised by her reaction.

"No, was I supposed to?"

"I don't know. At least I can. With my, urm, inner sight. "

"Oh."_He was actually developing those skills. "_Well, no I cant. Anyway, what leads you here?"

"You. Of course. I wanted to see you. I wouldn't have done it if I knew I'd scare you."

" I was about to beat you up. I thought it was a burglar or a thief of some other kind." He noticed the kunai in her hand.

"Then I suppose I can thank only my luck for not being viciously murdered." he said, pretending to be serious, then gave her a goofy smile. She laughed.

"Yes, you are very lucky."

There was a knock on the door. It opened slowly, revealing a Naruto in pyjamas, a curious look on his face, his blue eyes inspecting the bedroom.

"Mummy, what are you..." at that point he noticed the other man. Both him and Minato said at once: "Who is that?"

Kushina hurried towards Naruto, ignoring his inquisitive look.

"Why are you out of your bed?"

"I heard you screaming a name, mummy, and I got worried. I thought something was wrong."

She hadn't realized how loud she had shouted Minato's name in her surprise.

"Never mind, off to bed now, Naruto. As he walked out of the room, disappointed, she closed the door behind him. Minato opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off, raising a warning finger. After a minute, she lowered it down and now turned towards him.

"I had to make sure he wasn't listening."

After being allowed to talk, he did so.

"'Mummy?'" he raised an eyebrow, questioning. "I didn't know you had a son."

"I don't. He's an orphan. I found him on the street, when..." she stopped. Minato waited for her to continue, but when she didn't he asked: "When...?"

"Never mind." she sighed and went to the door, opening it slightly and looking up and down the corridor. "He really is in his bed, I can't believe it." she muttered under her breath. Behind her, the Hokage smiled.

"Is he really that mischievous?"

"Oh yes, he is, and I've seen him do worse."

"Like what?"

"Like, you might've noticed the devastation in the garden on your way here. He and his little friends did this when I didn't allow him to go out with them, because he had to do the dishes.

"Well, I didn't pay attention to it." He stepped closer towards her. " I was only thinking about you."

She met his eyes. _Those blue, big orbs. _Not once had she got lost in them, but now they seemed even deeper than usual. She felt sudden warmth around her waist.

His aura of divine light was now even brighter to her special eyesight, and he illuminated the room. But even without the Presence of the God he would still shine in the darkness because of her pale skin and blonde spiky hair.

Suddenly, he covered his eyes with his hand, as if to shelter them from the sun as he usually did.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Your aura, It's the strongest I've ever seen it."

She stopped her advance towards him.

"Forget about it. Now, there's nothing else, except..." she didn't finish her sentence, because she was already kissing him.

A sound of disgust came up from behind them. They let go, startled, and looked for the source.

"Yuk. That was gross!" Naruto's voice sounded from somewhere behind the wall. Rage flashed in her eyes.

"YOU!" she went over to the disguise veil the boy had been hiding behind up to now, and pulled it down on the ground, fierce. "Didn't I tell you to go to bed already?!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Besides, I don't want to witness what comes next."

Kushina suddenly blushed. She tried to hide her awkwardness behind anger once more.

"Go! And I better find you in bed when I come to inspect your bedroom in fifteen minutes, because you really wouldn't like to know what will I do if I find it empty!"

He left, this time for real. She focused her inner sight to find his soul, in case he was still lingering around the door, but he was walking down the corridor to his bedroom.

"Good." she sighed with relief. "At least one useful thing to do with this." she pointed at her eyes, meaning the other vision.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" her anger exploded with new force. "During the past three weeks, I've been treated like a puppet! That God... he's just outrageous! A real Bastard, like His name!"

"Whoa, whoa, what are you so angry about?"

Breathing profoundly in order to calm down, she sat on her bed and told him the story of how she found Naruto, possessed by a demon, and how she had liberated him. After that, she retold him the words of the white God, about Naruto's childhood and the reason for his amnesia. She finished with how she found him later that day, deep in terror and fear.

"Now do you understand why am I so angry with Them?"

He nodded slowly, deep in thought.

"Yeah. I had the pretty same experience during my, hm, absence." he sat down besides her. "That day, two weeks ago, I went on a mission with my students to the Grass country as back up, because Rock soldiers had attacked our ally. I... had just left my students, to make haste to the battlefield, while they had to destroy the bridge the Earth soldiers would use to deliver provisions to their troops. I... then He appeared in front of me." he fell silent for a while, recollecting his memories and then continued, choosing carefully the words he used. "I—I can't find the proper words to describe it. I literally fell on the ground with awe, forgetting all, forgetting I had to join the battle as soon as possible, forgetting my students, who needed me. I don't know what had gotten into me back then." he sighed. " He spoke me of things, of Power, of Sense, of Understanding. He told me to try and win the battle only by His strength. I tried, and I did, but could not save my students afterwards. I wonder where was His power when..." he inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down.

"I returned and found out that Rin had been kidnapped and Kakashi and Obito had gone to save her. When I arrived to help them, it was already too late..."

She put a hand on his shoulder compassionately. He wasn't crying, there was no expression on his face. He seemed empty, with no strength left even to grieve. It was the worst form of hopelessness, and worse than any form of sorrow.

"They... Obito was dead." he finally said, the words making their way through his sore throat with difficulty. "I couldn't save my student. He is dead, crushed by rocks because of me." his voice had now gone low and flat, and she had to lean closer to him in order to hear.

"It wasn't your fault." _Darn. That sounds so stupid. Why can't I say something comforting? _

He looked at her, then quickly removed his gaze, as if seeing her hurt him immensely.

"Anyway, we had to travel back to Konoha, but we were held down by more Earth soldiers for one more week, when we were saved by the Grass ninja, who held them down until we were far away from there." he finished his tale.

In a sudden outburst of compassion, she hugged him. At first he seemed surprised, and strained himself, but after that he even answered her. He needed desperately some warmth and comfort, although he wouldn't admit that even to himself.

"_You like her, sensei, don't you?" _Obito had once told him. _Yes, I like her, I wouldn't have survived without her. _

They let go, but stayed close together. She raised his hand and placed it on the back of his head, pressing his forehead gently against her lips. She then went down to his mouth, and the kiss lasted longer than the previous one, since there was no Naruto to interrupt them this time.

She pulled back for air after a while. He kissed her in response, first her mouth, then went down to her chin, and kissed his way to her neck, biting it slightly. She moaned and went to unzip his jacket, as his hands went for her night-gown. They lay down on the bed.

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The next morning came, bright and clear. The rays of the sun shone over Konoha, driving the darkness of the night away. Gradually all the village went from shadow to light.

Light penetrated into Kushina's bedroom too, since the curtain was pulled back. She woke up slowly, seeing at first the white sheets of her bed.

_Mmm, I had a wonderful dream... _

Then her gaze fell upon a sleeping Minato, his hand around her waist.

_Wait! So it wasn't a dream! _

She kissed him on the forehead. He stirred, but didn't wake up. A smile appeared on his face though, and she smiled in return, getting up.

She quickly got dressed in her orange kimono, then made a hasty hairdo with two wooden clippers, and without waking Minato up in the process, she went out in the corridor, closing the door carefully behind her.

Descending the stairs, she noticed that someone was already in the living room, having breakfast and drinking a cup of tea.

"Naruto?! What are you doing up so early?"

He made a grimace, then said: "I have training today, remember? With Neji?"

"Oh, right."

She went to him, taking a sip of his tea and a couple of cookies, for which she earned an evil stare. Suddenly, his angry expression was gone and he sniffed the air suspiciously, then looked at Kushina.

"What do you smell of?"

She cast him a slightly confused gaze.

"Eh? I don't smell anything."

"Well, naturally, since the odd smell's coming from you."

"I still don't sense anything."

"Never mind." he changed the topic. "I'm going out now."

"WHAT? Are you sure you're alright? You don't even wake up before eleven! And besides, your training is not supposed to start until noon, is it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not exactly going to do nothing until then, am I?" He then grabbed his pack, stuffing it with equipment for training.

"See ya!"

"Yeah, bye." she waved at him when he was already at the threshold.

"Bye!" was all he could pronounce with a cookie in his mouth, which he hastily had taken from the plate on the table, before departing. The door closed with a thud.

She sighed and sat on the sofa, drinking the leftovers of Naruto's tea, which was still hot and stream was rising above the cup. Upon hearing careful footsteps going down the creaky stairs, she raised her eyes to meet Minato's awkward ones.

"Hi." she said, dashing a blinding smile.

"Hi." his smile was more uncertain.

"There are cookies, if you like. Here, take some." she offered him, gesturing at the plate full of the brown temptation.

"Yeah, thanks."

While eating and drinking, he looked around.

"Were is the kid from yesterday? Naruto was his name, right?"

"He already left. To train."

"Ha! Really?" he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know. That's pretty unusual for him."

"I wish I had his enthusiasm back when I was a kid. Was yesterday his first day at the Academy?"

She nodded, smiling.

"I remember mine." he continued. "The teacher got mad at me the very first day he saw me. I had pulled him a prank, putting a sponge stuck between the door and its frame, so when he opened the door the sponge fell on his head.

She laughed.

"Yeah, I remember that too. We were in the same class."

A minute of silence. She was glancing at him, occasionally, when he wasn't looking at her, and he did the same when her eyes were turned elsewhere. Finally, after all the cookies were gone, he broke the silence.

"So last night wasn't really just a dream."

"Yeah."

"We really did it. It was my first time, you know."

"Mine too." she smiled once more. "It was really good though." she added, making him blush bright-red.

"But you'd think that when I'm twenty—"

"Never mind." she said, following Naruto's example from earlier. "Do you want to take a shower? You smell funny."

Slight surprise passed through his face. "Okay. Where is the bathroom?"

---------------------------

Later that day, right after Naruto returned from training, she dragged the both to the local store.

"Muuuuuum" he whined. "Do we really have to do this?"

"Quiet! If you want to eat something tonight, you will come!"

"But muu—"

"No whining!" she rose a finger threateningly. Naruto shut his mouth in an instant. He knew what Kushina could do with only one finger, and didn't want to experience it again.

Minato, however, didn't know.

"Do I have to come too?"

She turned towards him with a dangerously sweet smile.

"Yes you do, honey. You will help us carry the bags. Now, lets go, both of you!" She grabbed their hands, literally dragging them out of the house.

"But I'm the Hokage, I have duties..."

"In that case, Hokage-sama, take this as an assignment to help a poor woman do the shopping. I suppose your duties include helping the villagers in need, don't they?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but she cast him an evil look, one that could cut his head open and smash his brain in a second. Minato sighed.

"Don't they?" she repeated.

"Yes, they do."

He had just accepted his irreversible doom, when they saw a messenger running towards them.

"Hoakge-sama!" he cried. "It's an—"

"Not you again!" Kushina exclaimed, angry.

The ninja stared at her, surprised. Then he turned to the Hokage, but realised he wasn't looking at him. Even the black-haired boy was gazing at a point in space several feet behind the courier.

"You know, I was happy you didn't show up in two weeks, I was just beginning to enjoy life. And there you are." said the woman, who the ninja had already labelled as crazy.

"Hokage-sama—" but he was cut off as Minato raised his hand, warning him to be silent.

The God behind him smiled.

"Why have you come now?"

He sighed.

"Work brought me here again, unfortunately.

"Hokage-sama—" at this point, Minato clapped his hand on the annoying messenger's mouth.

"Another demon to take care of?"

"Yes."

"No. I'm not your puppet, you know. I need some normal life."

"You gave up normal life as soon as you became shinobi."

"But still, that abnormal is too much."

"Take this as a mission your master has assigned." he said, mocking her. "A mission to reduce chaos you so much hate, judging by your reaction every time you see Me."

"And where is this demon?"

"In the village, hidden in the rain."

She grunted. "Why should I go that far? Don't you have... sort of agents there too?

"No."

She pouted at him. "But I'm still not convinced I should go. After all, I have a personal life too."

"All I am doing is giving you a chance to make things right, as they should be. I'm not ordering you to go. " He said, the smile not getting off his face. "You can take him, if you want." he nodded towards Minato. "He will be of great help for the demon is much stronger this time." And he disappeared. Minato removed his hand from the man's mouth.

"Hokage-sama, urgent message for you!" he handed him quickly a scroll and ran away.

"He knows how to twist things, he does." Kushina hissed through gritted teeth. "And every time, he is so certain I'll go and fix His trouble." She turned around and looked angrily at the Hokage, who was now reading the scroll. He raised his head, sensing her probing into his mind with an evil stare.

"What?"

"Why doesn't your God molest you like this?" she asked accusingly, as if it was his fault

"I don't know?" he tried to look as innocent as possible, although he wasn't to be blamed for it. Her stare made him feel guilty nevertheless.

"Mum?" Naruto suddenly cut in. "Will you go?"

"Oh, you bet I'll go!" she almost shouted.

"Then..." he looked as scared as he was during their first encounter. "...can I come too?"

"No!" she said in a determined tone. "You can't! It'll be too dangerous!" She eyed Minato again. "But you will!"

"Huh?" he pointed at the message, indicating it was something really urgent.

"Let me see that!" she grabbed it from his hands, nearly tearing it apart. "Blah blah blah, elder Senshou dead, blah blah blah, attend funeral, blah blah blah." She raised her eyes once more to look at him. "Wasn't he the one giving you troubles about the Jinchuuriki we don't have? So you can miss his funeral. Good! You can go." she finished.

"Uh..."he made a last desperate attempt to defend himself, but gave in as soon as he met her eyes. They were burning and the divine light around her was blinding him. "Okay. I'll come. After all, the Amegakure is our enemy and I can use this chance to infiltrate it and scout the village...right?"

"Right." she finished. "It's decided then. We're going tomorrow. Early in the morning." she added to his great terror.

----------------------------------

That night he stayed at Kushina's house too, so she had the chance to wake him up viciously early in the morning. She went to check on Naruto to see if he was still sleeping, and returned after fifteen minutes, stuffing something in her bag. He almost asked her what was that, but gave up, remembering her foul mood from the previous day.

_And I thought she was going to be less irascible since she is in love. _

But the chances that this would happen were less than none. She hurried him out of the house, locking the front door.

"Why do you even bother locking? Every thief in Konoha would think twice before they enter _your _house."

She grunted, but a hint of a smile illuminated her face for a moment. However, he didn't want to risk any more attempts to make her laugh, because her bad temper returned and stuck around all day long.

-----------------------------------

"Naruto, we know you are following, you can come out now." Kushina said, sighing.

It was early morning and the sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was already going grey in the East, indicating it was on its way. Thin mist was surrounding them, making the silhouettes of the trees on either side of the road look like ghosts. They were a mile away from Konoha already, standing on a hill higher than the city gates and would still be able to see it if it wasn't for the fog.

Suddenly a shadow moved and from behind a tree emerged a guilty looking Naruto. She let out a scream.

"What are you wearing?" Kushina shouted. "Haven't I taught you anything?"

"Uh, those were the first clothes I grabbed. All my wardrobe was empty except for several shirts and pairs of pants."

Her anger quickly passed away. "You're right, I took all of your clothes. Just in case."

After giving him more appropriate clothes for the mid-autumn trip, they went on. Minato was pouting.

"What's wrong?" she asked after a while.

"I don't understand. Why didn't you send him away back to Konoha?"

She smiled, for the first time during the day. "It wouldn't be of any use even if I did. He'd still follow us, and even if I made sure he stayed at home and arranged someone to babysit him, he'd turn the unfortunate person's life into hell." Kushina said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Ah. I see." he laughed.

Naruto grinned, as if saying: That's exactly what I would do.

"But after we get back, you are in so much trouble, young mister." she informed him, her face suddenly turning severe. His grin faded. "Right now, you should be in the Academy, studying!"

"Oh, right. Well, they won't miss me for a couple of days."

"They won't. But you will. You will wish you had never set off with us!"

"Ha! I'll never do that! Nothing is going to scare me! I'll face any danger and defeat it!"

"I'm unlike any danger you've met before, young man." she said, evil flames burning in her eyes. She cracked her knuckles.

He backed away, slowly, sheltering his eyes from her, as if looking directly into the sun.

"Uh, mum, can you stop that?"

"Stop what?" she asked, confused.

"Um, you, your body, um, white sparkles are jumping all around you."

**---------------------------------------------------------------**

**You know I really love reviews, and I woudn't mind one, even if it says ;"Dumbass, your story's the worst I've ever read, I mean, WTF?! And you can't speak or write in English at all!" I'm resilient, I'll recover quickly. So please, review! **


	9. Chapter 9: Demons Again

So, after an unusually long wait (for me) here's the next chapter.

Please read and review!

CHAPTER 9

It was raining again. But at least the mist was gone, and now they could see far ahead, as the road curved around the green hills and a river crossed it in the distance, its water looking dark and grey below the stormy sky. A small wooden bridge, which looked as if it was going to be swept away by the fast current of the overflowing water, stretched over the rapids, and after that the thin brown line disappeared into the distance, making a wide turn towards the mountains.

"The rain will turn into snow as soon as we reach the pass of Uredzawa." Kushina said, joining her eyebrows at the sight of the blue peaks on the horizon.

"Which we won't do until tomorrow, if we keep walking that slowly and stopping every five minutes." said Minato, pouting.

They both turned back to look at the figure of a boy far behind them, walking slowly. He was carrying a backpack and wearing a jacket which protected him from the water drops. They waited impatiently until he finally caught up with them, barely moving one foot in front of the other.

"Naruto, hurry up! We can't wait for you for ever."

"I know, but..."he pointed at his legs. "It's their fault."

"Here, let me take this." Minato offered, taking the bag off his back. Naruto looked at him gratefully.

"You decided to go on this journey, and you alone will face the consequences!" Kushina warned him, grabbing the bag from Minato's hands and putting it back on Naruto's shoulders.

"Muu—"

"Not another word!"

"Can't we just have a little rest?"

"No! We will not stop until nightfall."

"But it's already afternoon! We deserve a very short rest? Really short?" he said, closing his fingers together to indicate how short of a rest he was pleading for. "Pleeeease?"

She sighed. "It'll be the second for today! Can't you just hold on for two more hours?"

"No." he lowered his head. "I can't feel my legs."

"If we go on like that. It'll take us a week to arrive at Amegakure, and not to mention the way back home! Your dad..." at this point she stopped, realising what had slipped out of her mouth .Minato shifted uncomfortably, half-smiling, half-pouting. "... I mean, Hokage-sama..." she continued as soon as she got control of herself once more. "He has duties he can't postpone for too long!"

"Okay" Naruto murmured. "I'm coming."

And they set off again. The black-haired boy was still walking several feet behind them, but was trying as hard as he could to keep up with the adults' pace, for as long as his aching legs allowed him. Occasionally, they would cast a glance back to make sure he was following, and stopped to wait for him. After such a pause, Minato said:

"Sooo...Dad, eh?" he asked, smiling slyly. She blushed slightly.

"You know I said that by mistake." she cut him off angrily.

"Really?" he raised a blonde eyebrow, pretending to be surprised.

"Stop it." she said in a childish tone.

"Okay. Just kidding." he kissed her gently on the cheek, but she made no attempt to stop him.

They walked for some time in silence, but then heard Naruto whine from somewhere far behind them:

"Muuuuum"

"What?" she turned around, angry.

"I..." was all he could say before collapsing on the ground, unconscious.

But before he hit the ground, Minato suddenly appeared in a flash of yellow hair next to him and grabbed him in his hands.

"I'll piggyback him until we stop for the night." he offered. Kushina gave out a sigh-smile.

"I guess he'll be all right with it."

--

The tall shadow of the trees drowned the whole forest into darkness. The rain still continued, and the plants were moistened, a fresh smell in the air.

Suddenly a dark figure moved and a human shadow fell over the ground before it. A smell of rotten plants and flesh filled the air, taking away all the freshness from the autumn rain. All the plants around dissolved into ash, and a strange black liquid started dripping from the leaves of the trees.

The mysterious figure hissed upon seeing the woman, man and child walking along the road. It started following them at a safe distance, so they couldn't sense the smell of death, but it could clearly see them. Running below an opening in the forest roof, where the dim light of the fading day gave colour to the shadows of the plants, the figure's features now became distinguishable.

It was a little girl.

_This should really be interesting... _she thought.

--

Two more hours down the muddy road and they finally found a good camping spot. It was hidden well from whoever else would travel on the same route, and the thickly interlaced branches of the trees above them offered a good protection from the rain. However, they still had to dry up the ground with a fireball jutsu, and after that quickly set the camp. Finally, leaving Naruto inside the tent, they went out and lit a fire to warm themselves up.

The rain faded away slowly. It was already dark, and certain sounds indicated the awakening of night-life in the forest. Occasionally, a small pair of eyes would appear at the edge of the space lit by their fire, but soon disappeared as fast as it had come.

They spent some time in silence, just sitting and drying up their soaked clothes. The starry sky often attracted Kushina's gaze, although she could see it only through a small gap in the thick net of leaves and branches.

"What are you looking at?" Minato asked at last. Those were the first words spoken during the evening.

"The stars are bright today." she said instead an answer. He moved closer to her to trace her gaze.

"They are." he said after a while.

Her eyes moved down to his face. He stood like this for a moment, with head tilted backwards, watching the sky, until he realized she was looking at him now and lowered his gaze to meet hers.

"It is really beautiful." she whispered.

"Err...Really?" was all he could say.

"And you are still the same." she said, rolling her eyes with a sigh. "That is called ro-mance." she pronounced the last word slowly, as if explaining to a child.

"Uh, yeah, romance. The one thing I didn't get the hang of at all. I mean, what's the point of it anyway?"

"What?!"

"Yeah, just a bunch of gibberish. Just another women's weakness—"

"Minato, shut your mouth this instant or I'll break every bone in your body!"

He stopped mid-sentence, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" he said after a long pause.

--

The girl was running as fast as she could through the forest. Everything behind her fell dead or burned into ashes. Seeing the distant light of the fire, she slowed her pace, smirking.

_I caught up with them after all._

--

A distant crash of a falling tree sounded in the forest behind them.

"What was that?" Kushina hissed, jumping up on her feet. He stood up quickly, moving swiftly beside her, already holding a kunai and several shuriken in his hand.

"I don't know." he answered, lowering his voice. "We better climb up high."

"And leave Naruto here alone? No. The tree trunks offer a good enough hiding place."

They quickly hid on both sides of the small path that led to their camp, each holding high a kunai in their hands, ready to strike.

Something fell on top of Kushina's head. She looked up, to see a strange black liquid oozing from the leaves of the tree above her. A foul scent filled the air, a scent of dead rotten corpses.

"Phew!" she barely resisted to the temptation of covering her nose.

_What is this?_

At that moment a string of purple light emerged in front of her inner vision, then wrapped itself around a plant, which suddenly burst into flames and turned into ash.

"What was that?" Minato whispered.

_Oh, crap._

"Demon magic." she hissed.

"Huh?"

"Remember when I told you about Naruto? Well, I followed one of these, that led me to him and his demon. I think it's some sort of magic or something."

At that moment they both sensed the approaching of a human being along the path. They froze, listening to the careful footsteps. More and more purple strings appeared and whatever they touched, dissolved into dust. The scent was becoming more and more distinguishable.

"Well, well" hissed a voice into Kushina's ear. "Hiding, are we? But this is useless. I can see you."

She jumped upwards, then landed behind the source of the voice. The girl looked up at her surprised, but then a smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, there is no use of that."

Before Kushina could react, a jet of light darted from the demon's hand and wrapped itself around her. Immense pain shoot from her body and she screamed, before falling on the ground, motionless. The girl's smirk lit her face, but faded away immediately when she sensed a kunai touch her throat.

"Release her, or I'll kill you."

"No."

The girl jumped upwards and tried to land a kick on Minato's head, but he was faster than her, and had already moved away. When she landed again on her feet, he was gone.

She hissed and hastily looked around, but could detect no sign of him. Suddenly she felt a fist land on her head and fell forward on the ground, but rolled away quickly to avoid his next hit. She then shot purple strings of light from her hands that quickly tied him up, but as soon as he fell on the ground, he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

The girl narrowed her eyes, but quickly got over the surprise and stood up, now walking towards Kushina.

But the woman was also gone.

"Aaaaaargh!" the demon inside the girl screamed. It started shooting magic attacks in every direction, until the only thing standing around was her and the camp tent. Her eyes fell on it and she smiled, then quickly ran to it and with a swift move removed the veil blocking the entrance. But the tent was also empty.

At that moment the ground below her exploded and the only thing she saw before she blacked out was a fist, flying quickly towards her.

Minato stood up and rubbed his hands, then quickly searched for a rope to tie her up. But all their bags were gone, burned into ashes by the strange demon-girl.

Nevertheless he continued scrabbling the ashes with a foot, not hoping to find anything. When he stood up however, a voice whispered into his ear: "Now, you wouldn't want to move, would you? Or else, I'll burn you to the bones."

He immediately sensed invisible ropes tightening their grip around him.

"How very silly of you, underestimating me." With a swift movement of her fingers, the unconscious bodies of Kushina and Naruto appeared next to them, dragged by her magical bonds. "Your miserable Gods could have chosen better containers to fill with their trash. No one can defeat me." She laughed. "Oh, I will have good time torturing you."

Pain shot through his body and darkness covered his eyes, but before he fainted he heard the demon's voice once more.

"And now... They die."

Darkness consumed him.

--

My first fight scene! Yeah, I know it was kinda short, but what do you think about it? Was it decent? Or was it just a bunch of crap and senseless words? Review and tell me your opinion.

I have the hope that one day, this story will have more than ten reviews, and I'm counting on you!(Well, maybe not exactly after this chapter, but...)


	10. Chapter 10: Fight

New chapter! I haven't updated for a long time, but I worked a little on this chapter every day, until it was finished. I know it's kinda short, well, really short, but that's for now. I planned on making it longer, but didn't, as I couldn't resist the temptation to end it with a cliffhanger.

I have the depressing feeling this chapter is pretty naive and childish. Anyway, enjoy it! And please, please leave a review after you've read it. Please? Pretty please? I want to know what you think of this chapter, and do you find it as, erm... not good as I do.

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CHAPTER 10

Pain, immense pain was all he could feel. Slowly, he opened one eye and screamed, because light pierced his eyesight. Somewhere beside him, a voice said something, but he couldn't make out the words. He tried to open his eye again. This time, he managed to keep his eye that way, but everything was blurred.

"Minato, are you awake?" this time he heard. Slowly, he realized it was Kushina talking.

"Whrerwe?" he made an attempt to move his lips. His voice was groggy and he himself barely heard what he said.

"What?"

"Where're we?" he said more coherently, trying not to scream in pain again. It felt to him that his head was about to burst open.

"I don't know."

He tried to tilt his head in the direction of the voice, and did it halfway before his stiff neck protested loudly. Well, loudly for him.

"Minato, you have to listen to me." Kushina said hastily. "The demon-girl's gone, but she'll be back any moment and we don't have much time."

At the mention of the demon all was back in place. Memories of last night flashed through his brain, the battle and his capture. And the last words he heard before he passed out...

"I thought she was going to kill you." he mumbled.

"Obviously, she thought I'd suffer more this way." she answered after a brief silence. He sensed the tension in her words and smacked himself mentally for saying this.

"Can you focus your inner vision?" Minato asked.

"No. I tried, but it didn't work. I can't sense His presence any more."

He tried to move and rubbed his hands in an attempt to free himself from the invisible strings, but the demon magic seemed to sense his intention and immediately he felt pain shoot through his body, making any further movements impossible. He restrained himself from screaming out of pain, and instead gritted his teeth as hard as possible.

"That doesn't help either. I tried it too."

Minato steadied himself for a while, until another thought flashed through his brain.

"Naruto! Where is he?"

"I... don't know. She dragged him off to somewhere." her voice failed her.

"Where to?" he insisted, but she shook her head instead of answering. She didn't have the power to talk any more.

"What are we waiting here then? We must go and save him!"

"How?" her voice was bitter and somehow drained all the hope he had from him. He just couldn't stand it.

"First, we have to get free."

"I tried everything I could think of, and nothing worked."

"What about the Rope slipping Jutsu?" He started performing seals behind his back, performing the technique. She shook her head once more, then added: "This won't work either. I tried it."

He chose not to pay any attention to what she said, but continued. Upon doing the last hand sign, he channelled his chakra through his palms and wrists in order to slip them free out of the magic ropes. For a moment, he thought he'd succeed, but the grip was too tight. He had to start it all over again.

"I loosened the ropes a little bit; after a few more times, my arms might be free."

"No, they will not. In the end, you'll only be bound even tighter."

He tried it again. Now he could his hands were free enough to move them at the front, as up to now they were tied behind his back. Now he tried the Jutsu on his legs, and did it several times, until the invisible ropes slipped off them too. Kushina watched him the whole time, tracing with her eyes his every movement.

Suddenly without any warning pain shot through his body and he screamed, when the magical bonds tied him again.

"I told you it was useless."

"Are you on my side or not?"

"I am, you just aren't listening to what I say!" Kushina said.

"And you aren't helping me!" he cut him off.

Awkward silence followed for the next several seconds.

"Sorry." they both murmured at the same time.

"Well, how should I help you?" she asked.

"Try to combine your chakra with mine."

She nodded, closing her eyes to better focus on that task. He started moving his hands faster this time, before the ropes were tight enough to prevent him of performing any Jutsu, and concentrated more energy on the technique. He felt his hands free in an instant. Then he started trying to free his legs.

Little drops of sweat covered Kushina's forehead.

"What are you doing?" he asked. The ropes were now fighting back on his techniques and he needed her assistance.

"I'm trying, but I think she put some kind of a wicked spell. I can't expand my chakra out of my body!"

"Great." he grumbled. The magical ropes were now really putting up a fight.

Suddenly, the bonds around his legs broke, and he jumped up quickly. As soon as he felt something wrapping around his leg again, he jumped high up in the air and landed on a tree branch above him. Kushina watched him with disbelief.

"How did you do it?"

He grinned widely. "Techniques. And stubbornness."

He jumped down again, running towards her. He squatted beside her, now making the hand signs for the Jutsu. Soon, she was free too.

"Now what are we going to do? She is sure to understand about us escaping her bounds."

"We have to find Naruto." he said.

"That will mean running straight into her." she objected. "Without His help, she will defeat us easily."

"She defeated us even when They were with us."

"We have no choice. Are you willing to abandon Naruto?"

She sighed. "No. But we need a plan."

"We'll make up one as we run. Come on."

They both disappeared from the forest clearing with unnatural speed.

----------------

There was a figure of a black-haired girl lingering in the shadows of the trees. She was bent over another figure, of a boy, and it would seem that she was just looking at him, if someone didn't notice the swift and almost invisible because of their speed movements of her hands, which formed complicated signs. Suddenly she stopped, and stood up. There was an angry expression on her face, as the sunlight lit it. Her eyes were only black, with no iris or white, and a furious flame was burning in them.

They had escaped. She had underestimated them.

Well, that wouldn't happen again.

She started running. Behind her the boy moaned and stirred in his sleep.

----------------

They were running as fast as they could. Minato was leading, but there was no need of his tracking skills, as the trace of dead plants was visible enough. Ashes covered the ground and burned trees had their black and leafless branches tangled in each other, as if trying to protect themselves from the monstrous creature that had just passed. Silhouettes of still alive trees drowned the forest into shadow.

Now free of the demon magic, he had occasionally flashes of his inner vision, which was slowly returning. He could now see a net of purple strings that covered the sky above them, and, although faintly and still barely distinguishable, the thicker line that lead to the demon.

Suddenly he stopped, and Kushina did the same behind him, looking around cautiously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The trace. It ends here." he pointed at the ground. Like a wall in front of them, a row of living plants blocked their sight further in the forest. The dead and burned trunks and bushes ended there.

"A trap?" she asked.

"Possibly. Either way we can't go any further."

"Then we should hide and wait for her? This is, I think, equally unreasonable."

"Oh, you don't need to wait for me." a voice hissed. They turned around hastily.

In front of them was the demon, in the body of the little girl. Her black hair was falling loosely on her shoulders, and she stared at them with malice and hatred. "I already found you."

"You!" Kushina shouted. "What did you do to Naruto?"

"Perhaps—" in an instant, she moved behind Kushina. "—You should come and see for yourself." Her hands formed a single sign and purple strings started wrapping themselves around the woman again. She fell on the ground with a scream. The girl smirked. "Too easy."

Suddenly, Kushina disappeared into a puff of smoke. The girl's smile faded.

Screaming out a single word, she raised her hands up to the sky. All the forest burst into flames, which spread in wide circles around. There were several Puffs, when Kage Bunshins all around dissolved into smoke. Still, the girl couldn't see a trace of the real ones.

"Hiding will not change anything."

Suddenly a shadow fell on her, and she looked upwards just in time to see the real Kushina flying towards her with a kunai in her hand. The demon's immediate reaction was to shoot jets of light, but Kushina evaded them easily. Another Kage Bunshin jumped out of a bush to pull the real one out of the way of the magic.

"Impossible," the girl whispered. "You shouldn't be able to see my attacks! NO!"

Her astonishment was so big she didn't even move out of the way of Kushina's kick. The infant's body fell on the ground. Minato also ran towards them, as the demon quickly stood up again. She was punched in the stomach by him, and immediately after that he made a couple of seals and ropes of chakra bound her to the ground. She screamed, struggled, but to no avail.

"Impossible! The Gods left you!"

"Obviously they didn't." Kushina said.

"They did! You are gone! You should be dead!" she continued screaming, then shouted words neither of them could understand. They realized it was a spell only when the demon disappeared, and the chakra ropes dissolved into thin air.

"Damn it." Minato swore.

Suddenly he jumped upwards, sensing someone was coming from behind. The magic attack barely missed him, and he landed behind her, pulling out a kunai and trying to stab her through the back. At that moment something went wrong.

The kunai was supposed to pass through her flesh and kill her, not to break, or melt, or explode, or whatever happened to it. He stood there, shocked, and was delayed long enough for her to turn around and rip his stomach open with another spell. Minato's body fell on the ground, and the blood formed a pool around him.

"NO!"

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This is it, for this chapter... Sorry it is short, but that is what I wrote, and I'm the author. I'd also like to thank my reviewers, who managed at least in persuading me that this story's not as dumb as it looks sometimes to me.


	11. Chapter 11: To Home and Normal Life

Chapter 11 

"NOOO!"

His limp body fell on the ground in a pool of blood. Kushina's scream echoed all around the forest, while the girl smiled and leaned over his body. Minato's fingers soon stopped scratching the ground convulsively and he froze, motionless.

Kushina stood in shock, unable to move. It wasn't happening. It just couldn't be.

The girl's smile widened as she turned now towards her. She raised her hands, preparing to cast another spell. Just then, something happened behind her back.

A loud "puff" distracted the demon, and when she turned around to the source of the commotion, she saw only a cloud of white smoke. Minato's body was gone.

"Kage Bunshin." Kushina heard the girl hiss, outraged "Another one of your silly ninja tricks."

Then, suddenly, a shadow emerged from behind a tree and there was a glimmer of chakra, being channelled into a technique, before the demon fell on the ground, unconscious.

It all happened too fast to give Kushina time to regain her composure and move at last from the spot she was standing. She ran to the girl on the ground, checking if she was really trapped by Minato's technique. Then she stood up.

Minato grinned wide in her face. She smacked him hard over the head.

"YOU!" she shouted on the top of her voice. "You made me think you were dead!"

"I'm sorry—" he started, but was cut off when she punched him in the face, sending him flying in the air. When he hit the ground, he curled in two, clenching his stomach and struggling for breath.

"Do you have any idea how I would feel? Have you got any idea of how dangerous your little game was?" she continued.

"I... said... I'm... sorry..." he managed after a few minutes.

"That doesn't change anything!" She now stood over him, angry flames burning in her eyes. "You... Argh!" she screamed in her rage, unable to think of more words.

"Okay, okay..." he paused, coughing some blood. That apparently made her stop punching every inch of him. "Please, I'm sorry!"

Her rage passed away, as if someone had pulled a veil back, and now tears appeared in her eyes.. She started sobbing, wrapping him tightly in a bear hug that once again pulled all the air out of him, breaking several ribs.

"I said... I'm sorry... already!"

She laughed through her tears and let him go. He made an attempt to stand up, but as he couldn't, she had to lift him up.

"I thought you were dead!" she whispered. He tried to protect his face from the next punch, but as none followed, he cautiously lowered his hands and looked her in the eye. Once again, she threw herself towards Minato, hugging him again. After a pause, during which he hesitated if it would be safe to answer her hug, he did so too.

"Never, ever do that again." her voice was muffled by his jacket. "Promise me."

"I promise I'll notify you next time."

She shuddered. "I don't want to see you die ever again."

They broke apart. Minato coughed.  
"I think we should check on the demon-girl now." he suggested. "We should make sure she doesn't escape again."

She nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Half an hour later, after they had already tied their enemy with chakra and physical ropes as well, they started searching for Naruto. The forest was large and there were too many hiding places where the demon-girl could have hidden him, so they went separate ways. Each one had to scout their part of the forest, and then return to the meeting point after two hours.

A hill was rising before Minato. He had reached the deepest parts, where the trees were large and high, and the spaces between them were taken by thick bushes, that made his way on the ground really hard. He had to cut through the bristly branches with his kunai, and there were already several smaller cuts on his arms and legs, a result of some resilient bushes. Of course, he could jump from tree to tree, thus making the search a lot easier, but he might miss an eventual hiding spot, for he was confident the demon had made sure Naruto's location was not seen from above.

_If only I had my inner vision... _he thought once more, while he was fighting with the next bush. _Where are You, when we most need You? _

But no one answered his question. Only the wind blew swiftly in the leaves, creating the illusion that the trees were whispering to each other.

_Wait—What is that?_

He had spotted a small and dark entrance, that lead into a cave. He hastily brushed away the plants that were covering it, and looked inside.

There was the silhouette of the black-haired boy lying on the stony floor, tied by the same ropes that the girl had used to capture them. Minato quickly picked up Naruto, who was unconscious, and there were bruises and burnt marks all over his body.

He had to perform the Rope Untying Jutsu several times, before the invisible ropes loosened their grip on the boy, and the arms fell free on both of his sides. He noticed that Naruto's face was extraordinarily pale, and the three whisker marks on his left cheek were even more visible, contrasting on the white skin.

_Not good... What has she done to him? _

He exited the cave, looking around. There was no one. He quickly jumped up, landed on a tree branch, and hastened to the meeting spot.

As soon as he arrived there he put Naruto down, and waited for Kushina. She came up a few minutes later, panting heavily.

"I found him." he said to her.

"What's wrong with him?" Kushina asked, upon seeing the unconscious boy.

"I don't know. You're the medical ninja here."

With a concentrated expression on her face, she leaned over Naruto. Her hands started glowing with blue chakra as she examined his body closely. The bruises and cuts were healed in an instant, but still Naruto didn't move.

"What?" he asked, eager for news of the boy's condition.

She bit her lower lip, while she finished healing him.

"He's got several internal injuries. I managed to heal most of them, and left him deal with the less serious ones."

"Why doesn't he wake up then?" he inquired again, with an anxious tone.

"He needs time. He'll be fine soon enough." she smiled to comfort him. "Recovering doesn't happen in an instant."

He sighed. "If we only had our inner vision again..."

She didn't answer him. Instead, she sat down and took Naruto's hand in her own.

"I thought about that too." she said after a while. He waited her to continue, but when she didn't, he sat down too.

"Yes?"

She forced a smile. "We'll manage without it." But he sensed that hadn't been what she originally intended to say.

"How?"

"The way we lived before. Normally. Without demons, Gods and stuff."

"What about the mission he send us on?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "We can't manage without Them. We'll just return to Konoha. Plus, we defeated a demon already, and a very powerful one." She pointed at the tied girl, who was still unconscious.

They fell silent once more.

"I already forgot how to live normally." he added after a while.

"So quickly?" she asked jokingly.

"Things like that are forgotten easily." he smiled too. "But I guess I'll manage somehow."

Naruto stirred. They both looked down at him, expecting him to wake up, but he didn't. However, his face had almost regained its colour.

"So it's back to Konoha again?"

"Yes." she answered. "Back to our normal life."

"With the war still going on."

She laughed. "That isn't such a big problem."

"I have to fulfil my duty as a Hokage. I have to lead the armies in battle. I will be separated from my home once more. And from you." He leaned to kiss her on the cheek.

"I don't want this either." she shuddered. "But we have to, if we want to be safe once more."

"I know."

Naruto stirred once more and slowly opened his eyes.

"Mum?"

"Yes, dear. It's us." Kushina smiled warmly.

"Are you okay?" Minato asked.

"Yeah,...at least I think so."

"Okay."

"Shall we head home then?" Kushina said.

"Yes." Minato nodded.

"But what should we do with her?"

"Imprison her. We can't do anything else."

"We might kill her." Kushina added, with malice.

"That is up to the Konoha Court to decide, not us. But I'm sure they will think the same." he said.

"Lets go home then."

* * *

"We are moving closer to the end." the White God said.

"Soon, it'll all be done." The Son added.

The Five of them turned to a sixth, also white Figure. It was taller than them, and no distinct features could be seen, for He all was Light.

"You have my blessing." He simply said.

* * *

With every step of the road, Minato was nearing his home. Nothing could spoil his good mood now.

To home. To Peace.

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So, I am indeed moving closer to the end. There will be three or four more chapters maximum, and it will be done. I've already planned the final chapters, and I can't wait to write them!


	12. Chapter 12: Not Quite Normal Actually

Yay, winter vacation! Merry Christmas in advance to all, who read and don't read this! During that time, the story will be finished. Thank you all, who reviewed, no matter if you continue reading this story or not.

Review response for AnGeLoFdArKnEsS (since I can't send him an e-mail): Yes, Naruto was once a chosen of the same God that has now chosen Minato. I think I've explained it in Chapter 7- why the Son left him and stuff. And thank you for reading and reviewing!

* * *

CHAPTER 12 

The air was crispy and Minato could see his breath like white puffs of smoke. All was covered in white snow that sparkled under the sun; it was winter after all. It had snowed yesterday, no, it had been more like a snowstorm, and they had to find shelter and spend the whole day there. But today, the sun was shining and he was walking energetically, eager to get home. Home to Konoha, back to his happy and cheerful memories, that brought him warmth and peace.

And Kushina was walking beside him, his true and only love.

He stopped, turning around and putting his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. Naruto was walking behind them, and they waited patiently until he caught up with them. Despite his weak condition, the boy had insisted on walking, and they saw it was useless to persuade him in the opposite. He was just too stubborn.

Naruto was barely moving one foot in front of the other, but he still managed to walk up to them.

"Are you sure you still want to walk by yourself?" Minato asked.

He shook his head.

"You already carry someone, Daddy." He had developed the habit to call him that during those two days they were travelling back to Konoha. Minato didn't try to correct him, but he still felt a little awkward about that.

"We can drag her on the road behind us, if you want." He nodded at the unconscious figure of the girl that was on his back.

"No, Daddy, that'd be cruel."

"She's been cruel to us too."

"That's still no reason to be cruel to her, Daddy. She didn't mean us any harm. The—the monster did."

He fell silent. Naruto had a point; after all, it was an innocent girl, possessed by a demon.

"So, you're sure you want to walk?"

"Yes." the boy nodded. "I can hold on for a few more miles. Konoha is over that hill, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Soon we will be home." Minato smiled. Naruto smiled too.

"Soon we will be home." he repeated to himself when they set off again in the fresh winter morning.

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" the cry echoed, when they stood before the gates of Konoha. The guards had noticed them first and had ran out to meet them. "Hokage-sama! I'm so glad you're back home, and safe!" More people were now running towards them too. Greetings and loud cheering sounded from the crowd that had gathered around him. 

Together, they all entered the village. They continued along the main street, accompanied by all the citizens of Konoha, and walked towards the Hokage tower. Naruto looked around him, amazed to see all those people out to meet them. _He has never seen such a thing,_Kushina thought. _What has his life up to now been like? _

"Citizens of Konoha!" the Hokage shouted in order to be heard above the cheering. They had reached the front gate of the tower and Minato jumped over and stood on top of the gate. The crowd had all turned their faces up to him. "Today I return to you, to fulfil my duty and keep the peace in the Land of Fire! Today I return, to fight for our country, and to keep the vow I made when I became Hokage.

"The shinobi world is at war right now. A fierce war, that has continued for many months and already two of the Great Shinobi countries have been ravaged and destroyed. The conflict will not end soon, and it will not end peacefully. In such kinds of war, there is no victory and no defeat. The war defeats us all, but we should combine our strength and work together, so that Konoha outlives that disaster, and stands up to meet the new days! I have returned to you, and with the help of the gods we will not fall into ruin, but survive and move on."

Loud cheering and applauding followed his words. People's eyes were shining with excitement, and with inspiration, Kushina could see that. Naruto looked up to her and she met his gaze. He was smiling.

"We are lucky to have Dad as a leader." he said. Kushina returned the smile.

"Lets go home, honey." she said. "You're tired and, I suppose, hungry."

He nodded. "Okay. Will Dad come?"

"He has to take care of a few things first, I think. He'll come as soon as possible."

Minato saw them separate from the crowd and head towards Kushina's home. He had to take care of their prisoner first, and then he'd follow them.

* * *

The doorbell rang. Kushina left Naruto in his bedroom, already asleep, and went to open the door. 

It was Minato. He was carrying the demon-girl.

"Didn't you lock her up?" she asked.

"No. I decided I should bring her here with me." he answered. "Not without trouble, of course. The Elders insisted that she should be locked up and executed after that, but I managed to persuade them that I still need to counsel you about her." he continued, entering and closing the door behind him.

"Why?" she raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. They entered the living room, where she sat on the sofa, and he left the girl in an armchair on the opposite side of the table, before sitting besides her. The demon wasn't going to wake up until she was release from Minato's jutsu.

"Naruto was possessed by a demon too, wasn't he? That's how you found him."

"Yes." she answered slowly, already getting what he wanted to say.

"So, I thought we should help her. The girl's innocent, the demon only chose her as a container. We owe her that much after trashing her body around. Don't you think so?"

Kushina frowned. "But how are we going to help her when we don't have the Gods in us any more?"

"There must be some way to call Them back. After we broke free of her spell, I thought the inner vision was returning to us, but it didn't. Yet, there was a short moment when I felt Him in me."

She smiled. "That's you, always trying to help people out."

"I think we need to do that, before we do something unreasonable."

She sighed. "You're right."

"Well, isn't there a way to call Them, or at least your God, back?"

She was deep in thought. "It seems that he loves to interfere in awkward situations." she said after a while.

He laughed. "Will that help?"

"Well,..." and she smiled. "I don't see why don't we try."

"But... What awkward situation?" he asked puzzled, and shifted uneasily. Actually, an answer was already forming in his mind...

Instead of answering, she leaned over and kissed him. They moved closer to each other, deepening the kiss.

Suddenly, without any warning, a light flashed in front of his eyes. They broke apart.

"What was..." Minato started. "Did you feel it too?"

"Yes." she nodded. "You don't suppose that worked?"

"No." he shook his head. "It was only for a moment."

Their eyes met. They started kissing again, but this time, all thoughts of Gods and demons were gone. All his senses felt only Kushina's soft lips, and her perfume, and her dark hair and deep eyes...

"Actually—" he said after that. "—I don't care." The Gods had obviously left them, but now he couldn't be worried by such a thing. Now, only Kushina was important.

She laughed. "You're too easily distracted."

"But by one beautiful distraction." he joked.

"Hmm..."she half-closed her eyes. "I ought to remember that one."

They leaned for a third kiss.

"There's no need for such measures to be taken to summon me. You just had to call." a Voice interrupted them.

Kushina jumped up. "I thought you had lost us!"

"Oh, I can never loose you. Once I've made contact, I can find you any time." A white cloaked figure was in front of them.

"But that means..." Minato started. "...that our inner vision has returned!" He looked at the unconscious girl. Now he could see the shadow that had curled itself in her stomach, as if sleeping. However, it soon shifted its head and looked at them. He didn't seem scared of the God at all, as Naruto's demon had.

"And he should be." He smiled, seeing through Minato's thoughts. "Thanks to the gift I gave her."

"We'll be here to help." Another figure came. He was tall, with red hair and a red halo around him, that filled the room with warmth and light. This time the demon as if tried to hide from Them, but since his host wasn't awake, he couldn't move.

"Come here." the White God stretched his hand and Kushina took it. He stepped closer to her, and then there was a bright light, in which he disappeared.

"We will assist you." said the Son and disappeared as well.

"So, lets get started." Minato said. "How do you do it, by the way?"

"I'm supposed to eat it." Kushina explained to him unwillingly. Minato's expression quickly changed from curious to surprised and revolted. "Then the God sort of... takes it from the other side. And brings it back to his, well, place where he keeps his demons."

"Aha. Then how do I help?"

"I... The demon might put up a fight. Perhaps that's when you can interfere. They do not give themselves willingly, because I don't think that place is especially nice."

Kushina turned around to the girl. The shadow made some kind of a defensive gesture and showed its long talons and teeth. The cloud of divine light around Kushina concentrated itself around her head and illuminated the demon, which shuddered at the touch of his God's aura.

"But when you... swallow it, can't it cling onto you and remain in your soul?"

Kushina shook her head, still fully concentrated on the monster. "No. It sort of... just can't. I think it has something to do with me being a host of the God. Demons can't control someone who carries a god in him."

"So it can't possess me, too?"

"Yes." She sighed. "Well, here goes nothing."

With his inner vision Minato saw as Kushina formed out of her spiritual energy something, that resembled hands, and stretch them to grab the shadow. It, on the other hand, opened its mouth to reveal several rows of pointy teeth and spat a strange substance.

Kushina gasped. "It burns me!"

Minato prepared to help her. She reached her hands again and this time, got a hold of the monster. It started struggling and spitting more burning acid.

"Help... me!" she managed to say, fighting to pull the demon out of the girl's soul. Minato grabbed it with his spiritual hands as well. But then, the creature started biting them with its long teeth. He didn't let go, and neither did she, despite the pain. Slowly, inch by inch, they started pulling it out, fighting it with all their will.

Just then, Minato's jutsu to keep the girl unconscious was broken. She opened her black eyes and the demon screamed, using her mouth.

"Noooo! You cannot—" the scream was cut off, when they finally managed to break his grip on the girl's soul and the demon lost control of the body. Now it became much easier to drag it, as it had nothing to hold on to, and he let go of it in the last moment, just before Kushina swallowed it.

To Minato, it seemed as if the demon slid into her soul, tried to hold on to something with its talons, but it was useless. The monster's legs, arms and teeth, all its features, melted until it was a shapeless purple shadow, and shiny bits of many souls flew out of it and disappeared into blue, green, red or grey flashes of light. _The Gods have taken them, _Minato realized. _And they're going to give them back to the already dead people. _

With a last explosion of white light, the demon was gone as well. The White god had taken it back to where it originally belonged.

Kushina wiped off some sweat drops, that had appeared on her forehead.

"It is done." she said.

The girl lay on the armchair, her eyes, which were no longer entirely black but brown, darting around the living room.

"Where am I?" she asked with a childish tone, so unlike the voice of the demon.

"Somewhere safe." Kushina answered her.

"Who are you?" she said again, her eyes widening.

Kushina laughed. "Never mind. Don't worry, we mean you no harm. You are hungry, I suppose?"

* * *

It was at that same time, but three hundred miles away. A high mountain peak, covered in snow, pierced the blue sky like a spear. There was a deep valley beneath it, with a large blue lake, which reflected the clouds that floated above. Beside it, carved in the stony slope of the mountain, was a huge cave. 

Two large red eyes flickered in the darkness. An enormous paw with claws emerged, followed by a body with red fur. Last came the nine tails, that the super-sized fox swished in frustration. It lowered its head and drank from the lake water, then looked up again.

Its roar sounded many miles around, scaring the small forest creatures. Birds flew out of their nests and formed a flock above the forest. The mountain crumbled and a few large rocks fell into the lake, disturbing the quiet water.

His time would come soon.

* * *

The Kyuubi has come! He's my favourite character. The real Naruto (I mean, the one the anime and manga series is about) will be born soon, and I can't wait to write the end, which actually might be a beginning of a new story. 

EDIT FROM 31.12: The last chapter is the next one. It'll be quite longer than the previous ones, as I don't want the ending to be too rushed, so expect it to be a little(probably not so little) longer in the making.Please be patient... err, those of you who read this. And please R&R!

EDIT 17.01.2008: Okay, I give up. Chapter 13 won't be the final one, because there are too many things that should happen before the end.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13: A Beggining Of An End

Originally, this was planned to be the final chapter, and it was going to be around 20 pages. But I decided that it was going to be too long for just one chapter (plus, I still haven't written the end. It is going to be longer than I expected and planned) Besides, I had forgotten about this story until a week ago, and the result was not updating for a whole month! I guess schoolwork's a priority to me and my braincells that are responsible for my memory just decided to skip the part about writing a story. Sorry about that.

* * *

Chapter 13 

The moonlit garden was a nice and cosy place to spend the night. The thick bushes, whose leaves seemed dark green, almost black in the dusk, the newly grown grass and the fresh aroma that filled the air in that night, the last one of March, created the atmosphere of sweet beauty and sacrament. Kushina was walking on a path, that was surrounded from every side with trees, and at that moment she was happy.

One of the few moments she was happy in the last nine months, the other being the discovery that she was pregnant with Minato's child... She smiled, remembering her excitement, how she had jumped around the room while Minato had watched her with concern and finally said: _Calm down, Kushina, if not for your sake then for the sake of your child. _That argument had brought her back to her senses. She sat down beside him and all day long they had discussed the news and what to do with the kid, once it was finally born.

Kushina sighed, sitting on a wooden bench, which was wet, because it had just rained. She set herself comfortably, which she needed to do because of her large belly, and her mind drifted again to the day Minato had announced he had to leave to the battlefront. He still hadn't returned, as she was starting to worry about him. She had known all along that they couldn't be together forever, but that one still came as a shock. He was leaving so soon... So soon after he had discovered that he was going to be a father...

She wasn't sent to war with him, mainly because she was a carrying a baby, although she really wanted to go. Instead, she had to stay in Konoha and probably never see him again...

She shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. _He IS going to return, and then we will live on as a happy family, and the war will be over... _But it was too much of a fairy-tale ending, and it wasn't likely to come true. If he returned... _when _he returned, she corrected herself, they would still have a war to win, and in such a weak condition that the village and the whole country were in right now, they couldn't hope for a victory. They could only hope to stay alive, as Minato had said four months ago, when they returned to Konoha with the mission the Gods had entrusted them.

The Gods... She hadn't thought of them since that day, when she released the girl from the demon. They hadn't visited her ever since, and deep inside she was grateful for that. Her life had the tendency to go awfully wrong when They had to seek her out, and so she didn't like Them at all.

She sighed, adjusting herself so that she was more comfortable. She . Minato was going to return home, and when he did, they were going to lead a normal life again, without Gods or demons, with their baby and Naruto. That was the only thing she wanted.

"Mum!" a voice shouted. A boy with black hair emerged from the darkness, running towards her. She smiled at the sight of Naruto, who was looking quite worried.

"Oh, there you are, mum." he said, obviously relieved. She stood up.

"What's going on?" she asked him, a little worried herself.

"Oh, nothing." A wide grin. "I just thought you shouldn't wander at night around here, in the park. It's not safe."

She smiled at him. He had really taken seriously the last words Minato said to him before he left. _"Take care of your mother while I'm gone_." Naruto had nodded, with a serious expression on his face. _"I won't be there to look after her, so do it instead of me, okay?" _

He took her hand and led her to the stairs that descended to Konoha. They were currently in the park over the Hokage monument.

"Besides, it's dinner time already, and there's no one to cook it instead of you." Naruto broke the silence.

Kushina laughed. "But I taught you how to cook." _One skill that Minato still refuses to learn._

"No, you didn't." he objected, as they now descended the stairs. "I know how to cook only sushi and rice. Your dishes are much better!"

"They aren't! Now you're just flattering me, so you can ask me to make your favourite dish."

Naruto grinned again. "Will you?"

Kushina sighed. "You know we don't have the products."

"Please?"

"Okay." she agreed. "But only if you come with me to the store to buy the products."

"Okay." Naruto nodded.

"And you're doing the washing-up." she continued.

"Muum" he whined.

"Then we both are doing the washing-up."

"Okay."

"_Both _of us, not only me."

"Yes, mum." he obeyed.

They were already walking along the main street. Different lights illuminated the windows of the shops, and in this colourful world you could easily forget that there was still a war going on out there. There was no sign of devastation or anything else, there were even happy children playing in the street. _We owe it all to Minato and his soldiers. _

The newspapers, however, told them differently. Every day, there were news of destroyed villages, ruined countries and killed ninja. Kushina couldn't help but feel sympathy even towards their enemies. The pictures, the photographs of ruins and smoke, and bodies of dead people, of dead children and even babies, were on the front page every morning. Even when Konoha still hadn't been touched by the war, she felt as if she had lost something dear, something that was never going to return again. The war would eventually take its toll on everyone.

They arrived in front of the house's door. She unlocked it, and they entered into the dark living room.

"I'm going to get some money, and you wait here." she said. Naruto sat down on the floor.

After a while, she returned, carrying a purse in the form of a frog. Naruto jumped to his feet.

"Actually, mum, is it a good idea for you to go with me to the store?"

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"Well, because you..."

Guessing what he was getting at, she looked down at her belly and smiled.

"Oh, no. I'm fine, thank you."

"Dad told me that you should stay at home, especially now."

"Nonsense. I'm perfectly fine, don't worry about me. Besides, I cannot let you wander outside alone. You're still a kid, after all."

"But you should stay at home! If something happens—" he persisted.

"If something happens, then I will have to go out to get to the hospital nevertheless."

"What if something _else_ happens? Like an enemy attack or something?"

"Our Hokage is protecting us with his men. What can possibly happen?"

Naruto didn't know what to answer to that, so he went out with her and locked the door behind them once more. They set out to the shop, which was close by, only a little further ahead.

They passed a wooden pavilion, where a few workers were gathered. They were building something and Naruto turned around as they walked by, inspecting the wooden building.

"Look, mum, they're building something. What is it?"

Kushina traced his gaze.

"I don't know. It looks like a ramen restaurant." she narrowed her eyes to read the sign, that was hanging on the top. "Ichiraku ramen. That sounds interesting."

"Once it is finished, can we eat ramen there? You won't have to cook dinner any more!"

"No, I don't trust fast food restaurants."

Naruto pouted. "But I like ramen."

"I can cook better ramen at home." she answered him. "Come, lets go."

He followed her, but he turned around twice to look at Ichiraku ramen. When he finally caught up with her, the crowd was getting bigger and bigger, and they had to make their way with force, since a lot of the people were walking in the opposite direction.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I don't know." Kushina said. "I only hope it's nothing serious."

Some of the people's faces seemed panicked. Suddenly, someone shouted:

"SAND NINJA! SAND NINJA ARE COMING THIS WAY!"

The women screamed. All the people started running in different directions, the mob scattered itself in the narrow side streets, but most started running towards the shelters in the other end of the village, beyond the Hokage monument. Shinobi were jumping from roof to roof, heading to the walls and the gate of Konoha. Kushina tried to jump up as well, but a sudden pain pierced her through the stomach.

She looked around, panicked. Just then she realized Naruto wasn't with her.

"Naruto!" she shouted. But no answer came. "NARUTO!"

She could no longer resist the crowd, so she started running along with the people. Sharp pain shot through her body again.

"Naruto! Naruto, were are you?"

The screaming and shouting were enough to drown her own voice, but still she continued, getting no response.

"ALL CALM DOWN!"

The mob stopped its chaotic advance. Kushina looked up and saw Yoshino, her sister, standing on a rooftop above the crowd.

"I need you all, as quickly as you can, to head to the shelters over there." she pointed at the mountain and the Hokage faces. "But quietly, and swiftly, no running! Or else you risk to run over someone. Now, form a line and go! The Sand ninja are still far away from Konoha, and you have more than enough time to evacuate!"

The people followed her instructions. Kushina still continued shouting: "Naruto!"

Yoshino noticed her and jumped down beside her.

"Kushina, are you okay?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I am, but Naruto isn't. I can't find him anywhere!"

"Where did you last see him?"

"Over there." she pointed at the store.

"I'll go and look for him. Meanwhile, you go to the shelters!"

"I have to fight!" Kushina protested.

"Not in that condition you don't." Yoshino objected. "You're pregnant, for God's sake! Now GO!"

"But—"

"Stop being stupid! I'll find Naruto."

Yoshino left her, and ran in the opposite direction of the crowd. Shouting sounded again, and someone else was screaming a name. But Kushina was deaf to all that, only Naruto occupying her mind.

_He'll be alright, he knows he has to go to the shelters in case of an emergency, _she tried to comfort herself as she started running once again. _Yoshino will find him. _

The shelters were already close by, when someone grabbed her hand. She turned around immediately, drawing out a kunai, and then she realized Naruto was standing in front of her, eyes wide with terror.

"Naruto!" she hugged him, dropping to her knees . "I thought I'd lost you."

He didn't speak anything, and he simply answered the hug.

"Quickly, inside!" she said as they let go. She grabbed his hand firmly, dragging him inside the wooden house.

Once they entered, they walked quickly along the tunnel, that lead to the heart of the mountain, where a chamber would be, big enough to fit all of Konoha, inside the heads of the Hokage statues. Although on the streets there was still shouting, inside the monument it was quiet. Only nervous whispering broke the silence, and the sound resounded from the stone walls.

"What is going on, mummy?" Naruto asked. She looked down to him and saw his pale, frightened expression.

"Ninja are attacking our village. But don't worry, it will be all right. The ANBU will repel them."

"Where's Dad?"

She suddenly froze. It hadn't occurred to her until now, but if the Sand shinobi were at the gates of Konoha, then it could mean that Minato was defeated. _He can't be. He isn't. They've just slipped past the defence line._

"Mum? Where's Dad?"

"He's... he'll be... he'll be fine." But her voice was trembling and it sounded unsure. Even she didn't believe what she said.

_He's got to be alive. He must be! It would be all meaningless if he... _she didn't dare to finish the sentence even in her mind.

The mountain beneath them trembled and a distant explosion sounded. A faint light illuminated the inside of the Fourth's head, were they were.

"The evacuation's complete" someone shouted. "Close the doors!"

Naruto stiffened and let out a small shriek.

"I'm scared!"

"Don't be. Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise."

Another explosion. A small rock fell from the ceiling.

Few shinobi walked among the citizens of Konoha, and there was a medic nin at the entrance of every premises. A number of people were standing there in a line, and the medic cured one after another, every time performing the healing jutsu with a tired expression on his face. Many were sitting down directly on the cold hard floor. Crying and at the same time, comforting whispers were heard all over the shelter.

Kushina soon lost track of time in the darkness. It had already been what, an hour?The huge room was lit by several torches, but the small flames only made the shadows darker. Sounds of fighting and from time to time, a jutsu that went out of control, kept Kushina awake and tense, waiting for news of the battle for the village.

Now she could do nothing else but wait. Naruto moved closer to her, seeking comfort. She hugged him with one hand, and sensed he was quivering with fear.

"Shhh, shh." she comforted him. "Don't worry. All will be fine, your dad will find us."

Naruto looked up at her. "Will he?"

"He will. Don't worry about a thing."

Naruto curled up beside her and closed his eyes. He could now sense that he was drifting into sleep, slowly, as he stopped trembling and his breathing became deep and quiet. Kushina moved closer towards him, to keep him warm as he was lying directly on the cold stone floor.

The night sky was lit by a huge pillar of golden flame that erupted from the village. It was accompanied by a deep bass sound that shook the walls of the shelter and caused dust to fall from the ceiling. A few of the people shifted uncomfortably. Kids woke up and started crying.

Now they had to rely on their shinobi. It was all they could do.

* * *

The hills around Konoha are a quite hostile environment. There are all kinds of predators, and the terrain itself makes you feel not very safe at all, despite that the hills are mostly covered if not with trees, at least with some kind of bushes or high grass. And of course, there is the legend of the Onba, a mysterious beast that is around three meters tall, looks like an enormous hairy monkey and if you meet it, you probably won't survive to tell the story. 

But even the Onba now wouldn't be scary at all, compared to what was coming. The animals sensed it and ran away. Birds flew up in flocks, abandoning their nests. The ground quivered under the enormous feet of a creature, or rather a demon, that was still only a shadow on the horizon, but the terror of its arrival preceeded him with many miles.

Nine tails swished in the air.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14: A Village Under Seige

Here it is, the new chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update.

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* * *

Midnight was near. The distant horizon was lit by the fires of the burning village, and the red light was reflected by two enormous red eyes. The fox raised its head to sniff the air. 

Kyuubi smiled. It smelled of future victory.

* * *

An old bearded man stood up. This was the only movement for hours, and as such, everyone's eyes followed him until he went to the enormous stone door and explained something to the guard. A baby woke up and started crying, breaking the silence, and muffling the quiet whispering of the guard in response. After the short conversation ended, and the child had stopped screaming, comforted by his mother, the ninja made several hand signs and the stone that blocked the entrance of the cave moved to reveal a dark passageway behind it. The man disappeared, and with a loud bang, the door was shut again. 

Kushina rubbed her eyes in order not to doze off, her senses dulled by the twilight of the premises. The sounds of the battle below and the shouting had been going on for hours now, with small breaks, while the atmosphere in the shelter intensified at every stronger explosion or light, produced by a jutsu. Nobody could sleep like that, even when they were tired to death.

No one had yet come to inform them of the present situation of the battle. The questions which had to be answered now, were left hanging in the air, no one dared to say them out loud, although they all thought of only one thing- Are they coming closer? Or are they retreating? No one knew.

She sighed and looked back to Naruto, who was lying on the floor beside her. He was still sleeping, undisturbed by the ongoing battle. His dark hair covered the right side of his face, leaving the left cheek and the three whisker-like marks glittering faintly in the torchlight. A smile crept on her face, despite her exhaustion, and she leaned forward slightly to stroke him with her hand. He stirred, but didn't wake up.

Suddenly an explosion of bright light illuminated the inside of the Hokage's stone head, followed by the sound wave. The floor quivered and several smaller stones fell from the ceiling. All faces turned upwards to the distant holes in the rock wall, representing the eyes of the monument. Another, smaller light followed soon after, and someone started shouting.

Naruto sat up straight, giving out a small shriek and panting heavily. She turned immediately back towards him, putting her hand on his chest.

"Shsh, calm down." she tried to comfort him in a gentle voice. "It won't hurt you."

He shook his head, slowly regaining his normal pulse.

"I—it was a nightmare." She could hardly hear him, because his voice was thin and he was barely saying the words, eyes wide with fear.

"Nightmares aren't real. Do not fear, nothing will harm you."

"N-n-no, it wasn't about me." He leaned back on a rock. His face was pale; cold sweat was running down his cheeks. "It was—it was about dad."

Kushina felt a nervous feeling gripping her. "What about him?"

"He—he was…" Naruto didn't finish the sentence, but buried his face in his hands.

She outstretched her hand, patting him on the shoulder in an attempt to calm him down although she felt fear growing into her.

"Nothing will happen to him. He knows how to take care of himself."

He lifted his gaze to meet hers. "But it was so real—"

Kushina lifted her eyebrows.

"You mean like a vision?"

Naruto nodded.

She fell silent for a while.

"Visions aren't always right, I know that firsthand."

Naruto didn't respond, only turned his head to one side, looking around. His face was slowly regaining its colour, and his breathing became steadier.

"He won't get hurt." she continued. "He promised us he will look after himself when he departed, don't you remember?"

"Y-yeah."

They stood in silence for some time, before he asked, "What time is it?"

"It must be midnight already."

"And—" he took a deep breath. "Are they still—?"

She looked at the night sky that could be seen through the Fourth's eyes. A golden flame erupted and shaded the stars for a moment.

"We still don't know." she sighed.

* * *

The dark shadow stood, swishing its tails nervously. The Konoha shinobi had proved stronger than he had expected, and were still standing, fighting the invaders. And there was someone, someone else in that village, who troubled him. 

He could sense that human's presence, but there was something, or Someone else behind and inside him, whose aura scared him.

_It doesn't matter_, he said to himself._ I'll crush them all_!

* * *

Naruto had fallen asleep again, in spite of his desire to stay awake and wait for someone to come and bring news of the battle. She watched him, as he breathed deeply and calmly, dreaming of something unknown to her. 

Then she turned her face back to the distant holes in the stone wall, tapping nervously with her foot. Is there really no way to see what's happening out there? Do we have to wait for news from our shinobi?

Naruto held up his hand all of a sudden and she looked at him again. His eyes were closed, but they were moving underneath his eyelids, and he seemed as if he was trying to hide from something. She held his hand in hers, wishing to calm him down. He stiffened for a moment, but soon relaxed.

_Can I see his dreams with my inner sight, like I can see his moods?_ Kushina suddenly wondered. Then she froze for a moment, as an idea came to her.

Inner sight! Of course!

How could she have been so stupid?

I can focus it and watch the battle from up here!

Excited, she stared now at the rock which blocked her sight of the village. She hadn't used that gift for months, but somehow she knew she would succeed quite easily in doing so now.

The stone turned into a glittering substance and disappeared when she focused beyond it, on the village. Though it was now not as easy as before to sustain her inner vision, she could use it better now, much better than in the beginning.

She recognized the soul prints of the Konoha ninja and their style of fighting very easily, and saw that they were greatly outnumbered by the Sand enemies. Differently coloured chakra flashed and formed techniques, and by the forms they took she could recognize what kind of jutsus they were. She watched in horror as sand engulfed many defenders, and a single man from the attackers stood on top of a roof, forming seals. Another sand wave rose and advanced towards the Konoha shinobi, but at the last moment someone's chakra shield clashed with a bright light with the Sand's technique and stopped it. She felt when the floor of they cave trembled at the collision. That delayed the Sand ninja, but not very much—they were now surrounding the remnants of the defence. Kushina sought, panicked, for Yoshino, and found her in the midst of ANBU elites, whom she was commanding. Few of them were killed, and that gave her hope, because it looked like they were going to put up a fight against the Sand invaders.

But there was still no sign of the Hokage or his soldiers. She drifted her gaze further, to the horizon and the forest in search for Minato and his men. No one was coming.

In desperate search, she widened her field of vision even more, now looking at the distant hills. At that moment, she sensed something else.

It still had no distinct shape, but a feeling of threat rose into her as she scanned the deep valleys and steep rocks that formed the terrain beyond the village's territory. Whatever it was, it was still too far away for her to recognize, although she could sense it as a huge shadow. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried to focus more, but to no use.

_It probably is a new devilry of the Sand. But it seems like a demon to me; is it possible that they—?_

The door behind her creaked open once again and Kushina turned around, involuntarily, drawn by the sudden noise.

She held her breath with surprise, staring at the man who had just entered.

* * *

Minato was running as fast as he could, his legs' muscles already aching because of the tension he put them under, running for the whole night. Behind him, the men were having a hard time keeping up with his pace. He didn't stop to look behind him, neither to wait for them, as only one thought was occupying his mind: _My wife and child… safe or…or captured? _

_Please, please! Let them be safe! I beg of you, please!_

"Hokage-sama!" someone shouted from behind. He didn't stop, just shouted, turning his head around.

"What?"

Instead of speaking, the other man just pointed somewhere to the left and added a few more signs. Minato nodded, showing that he had understood what he wanted to say, and lead a short wordless discussion with the shinobi on his right.

The ninja added a few more signs and disappeared in the forest.

_Someone's following us. Who could it be?_

* * *

The old bearded man, who had gone out half an hour ago, was standing at the entrance, and he was looking around. The aura around him of bright white light covered him as a veil and it seemed to her as if she was watching a city on fire. So strong was the divine Presence that she simultaneously covered her eyes with a hand, although the light passed right through it. 

_It can't be…_she stared, mouth wide open. _How is it possible? Another one? Besides me and Minato? _

The man noticed her and smiled, and she could sense that he hadn't sawn only what was on the outside, too.

He quickly made his way towards her, making wide curves between sitting or lying people. When he finally reached her, he sat down beside Naruto and she lifted her hands, in a fruitless attempt to try and protect herself from the stranger. Naruto stirred, but didn't wake up and she instinctively tightened her grip on his hand.

He sat there and watched her politely, but she still didn't have the strength to speak.

"Uzumaki Kushina-san, I presume?" the old man finally said.

Slowly regaining her verbal ability, she spoke as well, slowly, "Who are you?"

"My name is of no significance, but if you insist; it's Nakamura Tayako."

"I've never heard of you before. Do you live here?" she asked suspiciously, and moved even closer to Naruto, as if trying to protect him from the man's gaze.

"Yes, I'm not quite popular. And I live in Konoha, as well." he smiled again.

"And how do you know my name?"

"I might not be famous, Uzumaki-san, but you are. You have great ancestors, and I've heard of you a lot. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh." he looked her in the eye. "Or should I say, in spirit?"

Kushina raised her eyebrows. "Why?" she asked in an attempt to sound oblivious.

"Do not fear me," he said softly. "I will not harm you, or the boy here. And I know—" he lowered his voice and leaned forward, "—that you have been chosen."

Seeing that there was no more use to pretend, she whispered so that only he could hear her.

"And so you are as well?"

"You can see for yourself. Yes, I was chosen by a—a god, although I don't prefer calling Them that way. They are more like—higher beings. Much higher, but they obey and serve someone else."

"Well, they certainly messed up my life and took control over it." She wasn't sure why she was talking to that man, but he didn't seem much of a threat.

"A long time ago … they did that to me too. Or at least I thought that way back then."

"And what do you think now?" she asked.

"Oh, there are many things that I know now and I didn't know back then. Now, I see it more like… I was saved. I was saved, to do more significant things, to be someone."

"To be?"

"Yes, Uzumaki-san. I am many things now, which I wouldn't have been able to become if I had lead my old life up to now. In time, you will understand this. That is—" another explosion shook the shelter and dust fell from the ceiling. They both looked up, as did many around them "—if we live through the night," he finished.

She looked at him again. "Do you really think so?"

"Yes, Kushina-sama. You will see." He stood up and prepared to leave.

"Wait! What do you mean—?"

He cut her off. "You're more free than you ever were, Uzumaki-sama. You just don't know it yet."

Before Kushina could stand up and hold him back, he disappeared in the crowd. She looked around, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Mum, what is it?" Naruto's sleepy voice said from behind. She turned around.

"Naruto! Did you rest?"

"I did, but what were you shouting for?" he asked and sat up. The blanket she had used to cover him fell down on the ground.

"Never mind," she sat back down beside him. "Are you feeling well?"

The boy nodded.

At that moment heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor behind the stone door, as if someone was running as fast as he could. Kushina stood up, and many followed her example, looking at the door that was already opening.

The ninja slid in before the door had opened completely, eager to enter, and panting heavily, raised his hand to draw their attention to him. There was no need of that though. Everyone was staring at the messenger, waiting to hear the long expected news of the battle.

"The battle for the village is lost." he finally managed.


	15. A Parting, a Meeting, and a New Life

Haven't updated in a loong, loong time, for which I'm sorry :( But here's the next chapter

* * *

CHAPTER 15

There was a moment of shocked silence. The messenger stood before them, panting heavily, blood dripping from deep wounds that he had gotten in the fight, and everyone stared at him, unwilling to believe the words that had just echoed in the cave.

"No!" there was a scream. "NO!" A woman fell on the floor, sobbing. Kushina looked at her, but couldn't move, couldn't make any sign that she was conscious of what was happening. Everything seemed to disappear, fall into smaller pieces until there was no hope. No hope at all.

Some just sat back on the floor, whispering to their neighbours. Others started shouting at each other, at the messenger, cursing their fate. There were those as well, who didn't move at all, like Kushina. With that news every final bit of hope was drained from them, leaving nothing but despair.

"Mum! Mum!" Naruto was pulling her by her sleeve. "Mum!" his voice was trembling with fear. "What is going on? Why are all the people shouting?"

That pulled her out of her trance. She looked down at him, slowly regaining the power to move. His face seemed so confused and desperate, and that reminded her of the first time she ever met him.

"Mum!"

People were shouting even louder now, fighting to get over the mob that was gathered around the messenger and escape the shelter. At this rate she could hardly hear Naruto's voice, just see him open and close his mouth. Tears were running down his face.

"STOP IT! ALL CALM DOWN!"

The command worked. Everyone turned their heads towards the ninja, who had brought the news. He was leaning on the wall, seeking for support because of his many wounds, but he still had found the strength to shout.

"In this—situation you have two—" he gasped for breath, raising his head. "—you have two options. Either you stay here and fight for your homes with the Sand shinobi… Or you can run away, abandoning this village, but saving your lives. There is a tunnel, which leads to the other side of the mountain. From there you can head to our ally the Lightning country."

"But that's too far! We will travel for weeks!"

They started arguing again. The messenger raised his hand for attention, but already nobody was watching him.

"Mum! What are we going to do?" Naruto's face was pale, his cheeks wet with tears.

_I must not let him get hurt. He must be safe. _

"What's the point?" someone roared. "My home is here! I'm staying!"

"Let Uzumaki-san speak!"

There was a sudden silence. All heads turned towards her.

Naruto stopped trying to get her attention, and hid behind her back.

_Help me! _she pleaded in her mind.

There was no response, although she felt certain warmth, which comforted her a little bit. This was it. Whoever stayed, was doomed. Whoever left, had a small chance to survive.

But not if…

"I am going to stay" her voice was firm, echoed loudly in the shelter. This surprised even her. "I am aware that whoever stays, is most likely to die. But I trust that—"

She stopped, and looked around the hall. All of them were eager to hear what she had to say.

Naruto was watching her, horrified. He was not even crying any more.

"—I trust that Minato will come and save us."

A moment of complete silence, before a boom of excited whispering exploded. Slowly, the people divided in two groups. The bigger one was near the exit, and it was leaving for the Lightning country. Kushina watched as some of the men separated from the rest and walked over to the far corner of the huge wall, where the moonlight, entering through the monument's eye was forming a brighter circle. Those were here to stay and fight.

She walked over to them. Naruto grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the exit, which opened and the people started leaving.

"No! Mum! We have to go! Come on!" he pleaded desperately.

She knelt beside him and looked him straight in the face. Tears were gathering on the corner of his blue eyes again.

"Naruto, I have to stay" she said, almost whispering. Her heart was aching, but she had to do it. "I have to stay and wait for your father."

"But—" she cut him off by putting a hand on his cheek.

"You go. I don't want you to die as well."

"I don't want to!" he shouted.

"You have to. Please, promise me you'll look after yourself. There's no time, quickly!"

He fell on the ground, sobbing. Kushina couldn't bear to look, but she extended her hand and got him on his feet again. Hugging him briefly, she pushed him towards the exit, while the guard came as well and grabbed Naruto's hand, pulling him. The boy slowly walked away, but he was often casting glances backwards and crying. At the exit he almost managed to run away to Kushina again, but the ninja picked him up around the chest, disappearing out of sight. The only thing she could hear was Naruto's screams: "NO! LEAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO! NOO—"

The door was shut again with a bang, and the screams were cut off by the stone barrier.

Kushina stood there for a while, staring at the exit. Sudden pain around her belly brought her down to her knees, clutching it.

A man walked towards her. There was a lot of compassion in his voice, when he spoke: "Are you alright, Kushina-san?"

Kushina left his question without any response, not having the will to say anything at all.

She felt the corners of her eyes sting, and let the tears flow.

_I just drove away what was most precious to me. _

_But it was for the best… _

_I am never going to see him again. _

Now she cried with voice.

* * *

There was a medic nin in the group, and he stepped forward to her.

"Kushina-san, you better sit up."

She obeyed, wiping her eyes from the tears.

"Your baby will be born soon. Let me take you over to the wall, where you can rest your back."

He lifted her, and she lay, motionless, in his hands.

"Kushina-san—"

She flinched as he put her down, because she felt pain again.

_Why did I do this? _

_Why did I send him away?_

_To help him, _came the answer. The answer she knew wasn't hers.

She raised her head and saw another figure behind the medic nin. He was entirely dressed in white and was coming down a stair, invisible for her.

"You made the right choice" the figure said.

She clutched her fists, but didn't answer.

"It shouldn't have happened like that" she spoke quietly. "He deserved a happy and certain future, not—this."

"That is his role to play."

"To play?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and ignoring the confused stare she got from the medic, who didn't see whom she was talking to.

"To execute. This is his part in the upcoming events." He answered, tilting his head sideways. But He didn't smile as usually, she noticed.

"What are these events?"

The white-cloaked figure stepped forward, passing right through the doctor, who was still confused, and leaning over her.

"Events, that will change the future not only for your village, but for the entire world. You, Kushina-san, have been chosen because of a greater cause than you think. Your actions, as well as the other chosen ones', will have a great impact on all of humanity."

She rested her back against the stone wall, as pain shot through her body again.

"I wish I wasn't the one on whom everything depended. Why didn't you choose someone else?"

"That is because those who are unworthy of fulfilling great tasks for the prosperity of all humanity, turn out to do their job better than those who are."

The others were staring at her as well, but she didn't pay them any attention. It was most important to listen to him, and later she would try and think up something as to why she was talking to herself.

"And if you're so tired of that, I have good news for you—your part is almost over."

"What do you—?"

But before she could finish her question, he was gone. She sighed.

_I guess I'll have to find out for myself. _

"Kushina-san, are you okay?" the medic asked carefully, as if he was scared that the very sound of his voice would cause damage to her.

"Yes, why?" she asked, pretending to be surprised.

"Because for a minute your eyes turned—err, white, and you started—talking to yourself."

She closed her eyes for a moment.

"No, I'm perfectly fine, why wouldn't I—"

There was pain. There was immense pain, but light came and took over.

* * *

The burning village was already in sight. Minato ushered the others to run faster. Behind them the ground trembled again, but no one paid any attention to this, as they were all afraid of the worst—their village, burned to the ground, the citizens all dead, their children and wives gone…

Suddenly in front of them a wall of sand rose and blocked their way to the gates. A man stood on top of it, forming seals. They stopped.

"Go no further, if you value your lives!" the Sand shinobi shouted so they could hear him. They all drew out their kunais. "The village is taken over and destroyed. Run, if you don't want to meet the same fate as your villagers did."

"Get out of my way!" Minato roared.

The enemy ninja laughed. "You sure are silly. I see—" but he stopped talking, realizing that Minato wasn't there any more.

"What the—" he started again, but was cut off, as a kunai touched his throat and the Hokage's voice hissed from behind: "I said: get out of my way."

The man fell on the ground, and the sand barrier dissolved.

"Quickly!" he shouted again and jumped down from the heap of sand, running to the gate.

_Please, let Kushina be okay… Please! _

The sand ninja lay on the ground, unable to move and hissed angrily as the ANBU passed by.

* * *

The baby screamed loudly and started crying. Kushina watched wearily, smiling as the doctor held her son and handed him to her.

"It's a boy," he announced.

She looked down at the baby's face. As soon as she had taken him, he had stopped crying, and now opened his blue eyes to look at her. Two blonde hairs glittered on the torchlight.

"May I ask what is his name?" said the medic, grinning.

She hesitated. There were so many names in her head until now, but she forgot them all as Naruto's grinning face came to her mind.

_I'm probably never going to see him again… _

"It's—"

"HOKAGE-SAMA! HOKAGE-SAMA HAS ARRIVED!"

"What—?"

All the men stood up. She tried to do so too, her heart bumping heavily against her chest, but the doctor pushed her back gently and turned towards the exit to see another messenger come in. But on this one's face there was a happy smile, and he was shouting as loudly as he could.

"WE'RE SAFE! HOKAGE-SAMA AND HIS MEN HAVE ARRIVED!"

Cheers echoed in the cave, where only half an hour ago there were desperate cries. The Hokage was fighting for them! The invaders would be defeated! Hope there was again.

If asked later, Kushina wouldn't have been able to describe her feelings at all—there were no words for the excitement that took over her, for the relief and happiness. The Sand, no matter how strong they were, stood no chance against Konoha's elite, and their leader. Some even ran out of the shelter, climbing on top of the monument's heads, to watch the fight that was soon going to be over.

And she had his son, their son, in her hands! They were all safe; no one else was going to die.

The messenger ran out again, but this time no one even bothered to close the door behind him. There was no danger to provoke them of doing so.

"Where is she? Where?" a voice shouted in the corridor. Recognizing to whom it belonged, her stomach made several backward leaps. The door was pushed open even more, and Minato ran in.

"Are you alright?" he asked, breathing heavily, and stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw the baby boy in her hands.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, before producing any sound.

"Who—Wha—Whe—Is that—?"

"Yes."

His eyes were the size of plates.

"It's a boy," she added.

He just stood there, staring at them both.

"I can't believe it" he muttered. "I'm a father. I'M A FATHER!"

She laughed. He ran over to them, forgetting all other things.

"What—?" Minato kneeled beside them, outstretching his hand slowly, as if afraid to touch the boy. He stroke the baby's cheek gently, and the baby stared at him.

"What is his name?" he asked.

"I decided on Naruto."

He laughed. "But won't that—?" Realizing something, he turned around.

"Where are the other villagers? Where is Naruto?"

Her smile faded.

"The ones who left are probably on their way to the Lightning country."

"They fled?" he asked in disbelief.

"That was the best thing they could do at the moment. The enemies had taken over our defence."

He stood up.

"We should send someone to bring them back."

She nodded. But Minato's face was serious.

"Why didn't you flee with them?" he asked all of a sudden.

"I was waiting for you."

"Why? You could have died!"

She was surprised by his unexpected outburst of anger.

"I trusted you would come in time."

He closed his eyes, lowering his head.

"Come, we should take you to your house" he said and smiled faintly, then kneeled to lift her on his arms.

"If there's anything left of it."

Minato nodded. "There is. I checked it out." He shot at her one of his goofy smiles. Kushina couldn't resist but laugh again.

"Right, let's go."

* * *

A giant shadow was cast over a hill. The ground shook.

The fools hadn't succeeded in destroying Konoha. He snarled angrily, showing a row of white, long and sharp teeth.

_Guess it is my turn now. _

* * *

Minato left her on the sofa in the living room, and stood up.

"I'll go out and check if everything is alright."

Kushina nodded. "Go."

"Hokage-sama!" someone shouted from outside. He sighed and ran out.

There were mainly remains of burned to the ground houses, but some, like Kushina's house, were still standing. He passed many devastated homes, scanning the overall damage that the village had taken.

Then he ran straight into an ANBU, who was heading directly towards him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Hokage-sama, there's a strange object heading towards Konoha.

It took Minato a moment to assimilate what the other person was saying.

"What?"

"It's really big, and has an enormous amount of chakra! I've never seen so much strength, gathered in one place!"

_Oh, damn. It better not be a new devilry of the Sand. _

Though he couldn't think of other possibilities.

"How far is it?"

"I don't exactly know. I sent a few men to scout the area around the village, but it's not very far. It might actually—"

Minato wasn't listening any more. He started running towards the gate.

_Crap. More troubles. What is it this time?_

His question was answered in the next few seconds, when the ground shook, and a huge shadow fell over Konoha.

He halted, drew out his weapons, and then realized what he was facing.

It was an enormous, red, nine-tailed fox. And its huge luminous eyes were fixed directly on the tiny human in front of it.


	16. Chapter 16: Kyuubi

Phew! Finally, the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 16

Kushina heard someone outside scream in panic. Other people were running and orders where shouted from everywhere. It seemed that there was more trouble coming.

Naruto, who was laying in a basket, covered with blankets beside her, started crying. She took him in her hands and tried to comfort him by cooing softly.

That was the moment she felt it. It was as if someone was suffocating her with all the malice, hatred, strong determination and desire for destruction, all of them combined into one enormous shadow. Her eyes widened as she felt the monster coming closer, and all those emotions crushing her helpless and tiny brain. It left her breathless, her heart racing madly in her chest.

She put Naruto down slowly, then moved closer to the window despite her body aching terribly. She gritted her teeth and tried to withstand the pain, that giving birth not long ago had caused her.

_What was that? What the hell was that? A new demon? _

Finally reaching it, she looked through the glass. At first there was not much to see, as everything outside was dark. She waited until her eyes got used to the night outside and she saw that there was someone running along the street towards the main gate, looking up. She traced his glance, worried by his terrified face and by the hunch she got before she saw what was he staring at.

There was a mountain of shadow rising over Konoha. That was what she first saw, as her eyes fell on the massive form of a gigantic fox, standing over the remnants of the village's gate. It had nine tails, swishing in the air. Its red, enormous eyes were looking downwards, gleaming in the night like hundreds of lit torches.

She froze on the window, panic and terror overcoming her. She could sense the enormous mind of that creature, even without her inner sight, its hatred slowly suffocating her in a sea of fear and despair.

It was a demon. She already knew it. And it was Kyuubi, of whom They had warned her.

She inhaled through gritted teeth, trying to defend herself against the overwhelming presence of such a thing, of so much sheer power, gathered on one place. That was when she noticed the tiny human, standing in front of the fox, on whom its eyes where fixed.

It was Minato.

* * *

"Wh—"

The Fourth's mouth was dry of fear, and he couldn't even say one word. Almost against his will, he was looking directly in the fox's eyes, in those enormous pits of fire.

_What is that thing? _

Suddenly, without any warning, the giant animal thrust his head upwards and roared loudly towards the sky. It was a deafening sound, full of malice, and several seconds of it were enough to bring down all of the ANBU, their hands pressed firmly upon their ears. That didn't help though. Even like that, Minato felt as if his head was split up in two, every tiny part of his being vibrating painfully with the explosion of the demon's fury.

* * *

Kushina was on her knees too, trying to protect her ears from the roar. The windows cracked and crashed into tiny pieces, before the Kyuubi stopped and looked at the humans, gathered before him, moments ago ready to fight and now on the ground, most of them unconscious.

* * *

It took Minato several seconds before he could regain control over his body again, and he stood up, uncertainly, casting a glance at the others. Many of them were still lying, as if dead, shocked and crushed by the size of the demon's anger.

Then it attacked.

Minato wouldn't have known that such a gigantic creature could move that fast, if he hadn't seen it right now. Only a moment ago it was beyond the gate, and now it was right over them, opening its mouth again. He raised his hands and prepared to cast a protective jutsu, should it use sound once more, but it didn't. Instead of that, a huge ball of chakra was formed between its teeth. The hairs on Minato's back stood up from the intensity of and the might of that technique, and he already knew all he could do against it was dodge. If it hit him, he was dead.

The enormous ball crashed into the ground, and after that exploded. The Hokage was thrust backwards by its power, and landed far away from the crater that had formed, rolling to absorb the impact. He quickly jumped up again and made several hand signs, throwing a kunai, which glittered with his jutsu.

It didn't even reach the fox though. Many other kunais were already flying towards the fox, but just before reaching it, they dissolved into thin air. Then, when no one expected it, the demon changed its position again, and in a glimpse of an eye it stood right over Minato again.

He tensed and prepared to throw another jutsu at the monster. Forming seals with the speed of light, he jumped on the roof of a building that was left standing and pointed his hands at the huge creature.

Walls of blue, flashing chakra formed around it and closed it in a cage. The foxed looked upwards, the around, but the prison firmly locked it.

Then it opened its mouth and Minato tensed, ready to dodge its next attack if by any chance it broke the shield. But surprisingly, the demon was producing only a strange thundering sound.

Then the Hokage understood. The creature was laughing.

"Clever little human," it said with a deep voice that still reminded of the roar a minute ago. "Clever little human managed to trap me." Showing its large teeth, it smiled. "Or so he thinks." The fox was piercing him with its red demonic eyes.

_It can speak? What is it? _

"I am Kitsune no Kyuubi, you insolent little human. And of course I can speak!"  
_And it can read thoughts? _

Kyuubi smirked.

"You small insignificant creatures do not cease to amaze me with the size of your stupidity. If I were him, I'd definitely not choose one of you as my… agent on this world."

_He knows! _Minato's eyes were wide with fear.

"Oh, yes I know. I know everything about you, Minato-_sama_" he spat the last word with irony. "But if you knew a little more about me, you could've seen _this—_" the chakra shield suddenly dissolved and Minato felt that he was losing control over the binding technique.

"—one coming!"

There was an enormous flash of red energy, an explosion, the Fourth was sent flying in the air, and then all went black.

He stood up slowly, white spots dancing around his eyesight. Looking around, he tried to locate the demon, but there was no trace of it.

Suddenly he felt someone's hot breath on his neck.

"Behind you" he heard someone whisper.

Instead of just turning around, he jumped up in the air, made several back-flips and landed behind the source of the voice. But he didn't see anyone else, except a human figure that was standing in the shadows, its face covered in darkness so he couldn't recognize it. The only thing he could see was that it was female.

"Who are you? Where's Kyuubi?" he shouted.

"Idiot" the woman said and he flinched, recognizing the voice. It couldn't be…

She turned around and his fears were confirmed. It was Kushina.

"No… No!" he shook his head, backing away from her. "It can't be, Kushina's at home! She's not here!"

The woman raised her eyebrows. "How do you know?" she asked in a threatening voice.

He drew out a kunai. "You filthy impostor! Where's Kyuubi?"

She laughed. "I AM Kyuubi!"

He lunged at the demon, throwing both a kunai and a shuriken at her. But before he could draw out another kunai, it opened its mouth and with a huge roar, breathed fire. The weapons flying towards her evaporated and she used his momentary distraction to jump up with inhuman speed and land behind him. He sensed cold metal touching his throat.

"Silly human. You cannot defeat me, even with your… _god_ you have there." She pressed the knife harder against his skin. "I will kill you now!"

He sensed warm blood dripping down his skin from the cut, as it was getting even deeper. But just as Kyuubi was about to make his final motion, with which to cut his throat, Minato formed three seals, and glowing chakra erupted from his hands, producing an explosion and throwing the demon back with outstretched hands. It landed on the very edge of the roof they were standing on.

Kyuubi got up, hissing.

"Silly human got some tricks up his sleeves, I see. But that won't help him when the real fight begins!"

Throwing away Kushina's skin, as if it was its clothes, Kyuubi started growing back to its original size.

"You piss me off" the demon's voice thundered. "Let's make it a little more interesting, shall we?"  
Expecting it to lunge at him and do some unexpected jutsu, he jumped back to another roof. Then he saw that it actually was headed in another direction.

His heart stopped with terror as he saw Kyuubi running towards Kushina's house, destroying everything that it passed by with its tails.

* * *

Kushina ran to the front door. She had left Naruto in the basement, protected by all shielding jutsus she could think of. She didn't want to leave the baby alone, but she had to help Minato as well.

_Is it Kyuubi, who's attacking Konoha? But he's a demon, isn't he? So don't demons need human souls and bodies to exist in this world? _

With her inner vision she could see its enormous form standing in front of Minato, who was just a glowing spot before the darkness that threatened to engulf him.

Suddenly the huge fox started running towards her house.

_Oh no! _

* * *

Kyuubi ripped off the roof, using one of its tails and saw the tiny female human staring at him in terror. The god's aura was surrounding her, but even that way, she looked infinitely small and helpless in front of him.

All of a sudden Minato jumped beside Kushina, shielding her with his arms.

"You will not touch her!" he shouted.

The demon smirked.

"And what will you do to protect her from me? Let's see!"

Fire erupted from its mouth and turned into burning ashes the entire house in mere seconds.  
As soon as the devastation subsided, Kyuubi saw a gleaming sphere in the centre of the ruins, that had protected both Minato and Kushina from the demon's technique. The Hokage was looking up at it with a fierce expression on his face.

"I told you not to touch her."  
"You cannot tell me what to do and what not, pathetic creature!"

Kyuubi raised its paw to crush them both, but they jumped backwards. Instead, he destroyed what was left of the living room.

"You cannot escape me!"

Kushina screamed, backing off.

"You cannot leave us like that!" she suddenly shouted. The demon smirked, knowing who she was talking about.

"He has left you, because you're useless trash! And he won't come back!"

"Better turn around before you speak, _little demon_."

* * *

EDIT: I won't be able to post new chapters for a few weeks, because I have too much schoolwork, plus the term tests are coming up, so... I will try to write the new chapter as soon as possible, but I don't think that I will do it soon.


	17. Chapter 17: Their purpose

Actually, the new chapter was ready a lot sooner than I expected.

* * *

Chapter 17

Kyuubi growled and turned his head around to stare at the white-cloaked figure.

"You!" the demon snarled at him.

The god tilted his head sideways, without answering to its threat. Another four figures emerged from behind him, halos shining around their heads, and illuminating the fox's enormous body with multi-coloured light. It backed off a little, narrowing its eyes while growling at them tentatively, but apparently, it feared them.

"Have you come to put me in chains once again?"

The white god gestured at Minato and Kushina, then descended lower into the air, facing Kyuubi's eye and looking directly at it.

"No, today we have a more important mission."

"Oh, I have foreseen through your plans a long time ago!" the demon said. It didn't show any apparent signs of fear now, but with her inner sight Kushina could see the darkness swirling around, as if the creature was worried. "You cannot trap me again. Never!"

"No." the Son replied behind him. Kyuubi fixed his eye on him now, but flinched, revealing for a moment the terror in its eyes. It was only for a split part of the second though, and the expression of fury returned on its face.

"And you cannot use your powers here! Only I can!" the demon continued. "You cannot defeat me in this world!"

"Kushina" the white god addressed her, without turning around to face her, still looking at Kyuubi. She looked up at him, Minato still hugging her tightly.

"I need to know…" he suddenly appeared next to her. "…if you're ready for this."

"For what—?"

"You plan to defeat me through these miserable humans." Kyuubi smirked. "I thought you'd have a better plan. They are weak. I've seen it."

"You cannot judge by their looks, Kyuubi," the woman dressed in green, the Mother, said. "I thought you were _wiser_ than this."

The fox thrust its head upwards and roared with fury.

"That's enough!" it lunged towards Kushina and Minato. "I'll crush you all—"

That was the moment when golden flame erupted from behind them with a thunder, making them lose balance, and they all heard someone scream "CHARGE!"

--

Several shinobi with masked faces were running along the dark, narrow streets of Konoha.

Suddenly the leader waved them to stop.

"Shohi" she said, removing her mask. Her red, long hair, the only thing she had in common with Kushina despite them being sisters, fell down freely.

Another ANBU came towards her.

"Yoshino-sama?"  
"I need you to check on that demon again" she whispered in the man's ear. He just nodded, forming handseals. His removed his mask too, to reveal a young man's face, around thirty.

His eyes became glassy for a moment, as his hearing range expanded beyond any normal human's. Yoshino at the meantime narrowed her eyes and looked at the gigantic fox, which was occasionally swishing a tail or two, but it didn't seem to be doing anything else.

"Well?" she asked, without turning back to him.

"I—it's kind of hard to hear the demon, Yoshino-sama. But it seems it is still talking to Hokage-sama."

_Jeez. What is that Minato up to? _

"Yoshino-sama? What should we do now?" another one said.

"We wait for the signal from the other group." She leaned on the wall of a building that was currently hiding them from the monster. The ground was trembling with every swish one of his tails made.

At that moment they heard a thunder and an explosion of golden flame lit the horizon.

"CHARGE!" she shouted.

--

Countless ANBU were jumping from all directions towards Kyuubi. Several more landed on both sides of Minato and Kushina.

"Are you alright, Hokage-sama?"

He just nodded, looking at the fox, which was surrounded from all sides now and kunais and shuriken were flying towards it. It was growling and dodging the weapons.

"Yes, we're fine." Kushina said.

"We'll take it from now" he assured them and ran to help the others.

"Kushina-san" the white god turned towards her, when the ANBU was gone. "Your task from now on is different."

"I…"

The Kyuubi roared once more, as several bounding jutsus caught it unprepared. Ropes were thrown towards it from many directions, blue chakra running along them. The demon breathed fire at them with a thunder, but the shinobi jumped out of the way, and the techniques were still tying it up.

"That won't work on it, it'll get free once again, as it did with my jutsu" Minato said. "Kushina, where's Naruto?"

"He's down in the basement. I left shields around him."

The Hokage grabbed her hand and ran with her to the remnants of their house.

The gods traced them with their glances.

"Do you think they're ready?" the Son asked.

"They are."

--

"Wait!" Kushina shouted as Minato ran to open the basement door, the only thing left standing in the ruin.

He put his hand on the handle, but a blue spark threw him back, where he landed in the ashes.

She ran to him.

"I told you there were protective jutsus all around the place!"

"Uhh yeah…" he murmured.

"Wait a moment."

With several hand signs the door shone in blue for a moment, and then opened by itself with a creak.

"C'mon!" she urged him and ran into the tunnel that was revealed behind the sealed door.

She had to break several more shields, before they could enter the basement. Literally breaking through the last wooden door, they barged into the underground room.

Minato ran towards the basket, covered in blankets, and took the baby in his hands.

"He's safe…" he sighed out of relief.

A small smile crept upon Kushina's face as she watched them both.

"Yeah."

A large explosion shook the ground and the ceiling dusted them with small rocks and dirt. Minato tensed and Kushina looked up to the ceiling.

"It looks like its breaking free."

A huge roar confirmed their fears. People screamed.

"What are we going to do?" she asked with an expression of fear.

He stood beside her. "I don't know… He said our task was different. But what did he—?"  
Another earthquake cut him off. They both lost balance, but in the last moment Minto grabbed on to a crack in the wall and that stopped him from falling. Naruto woke up from his sleep and started crying.

"We've got to get rid of that demon!" Kushina said as she got up, helped up by the Hokage. "But…how?"

"They want us to do something." The answer was slowly forming in his mind, and he didn't like it at all.

"What?"

He didn't speak.

"Minato?"

"We have to seal it away" he finally said, avoiding looking her in the eye.

"Seal it…away? To where…?" her eyes widened with shock as she realised. "You do not plan… you do not plan to use _that_ technique?! But you'll die!"

He gritted his teeth. "I have to, for the sake of my village."

"There must be another way!"

"There isn't. That demon is too strong and it will eventually wipe out all of Konoha."

"And besides, where will you seal it in? You don't have… That technique isn't strong enough anyway!"

"With Their help, it will be."

Kushina covered her eyes with her palm. Her whole body was trembling and she fell down to her knees.

"So this was it… from the very beginning. This was what we had to do." she whispered after a while. "But they can't channel enough energy to seal this demon away only through one person. I will help too."  
It was his turn to be angry.

"You cannot! You will die too, and there's got to be someone to take care of… of our son after I…" he couldn't finish the sentence and his voice faltered.

He kneeled down beside her, putting his arm on her shoulder.

_She feels so vulnerable… and fragile. _

"I've somehow always known it had to end like this… That we wouldn't be happy for long." she whispered, turning around at his touch.

He met her eyes and locked his gaze upon them.

"But we can't abandon him like that." He gestured and Naruto, who was now silent, watching his mother and father with his blue eyes.

"The village will take care of him. Sarutobi-sensei will."

_Isn't there another way? _he asked himself as he was watching Naruto, who had his eyes fixed upon Minato.

_No. _

_There isn't. _

_Kyuubi has to be defeated! _

He sighed deeply, then returned his gaze on Kushina.

"There's one last thing… Kyuubi needs to be sealed into a person."

She didn't respond, just stood there, numb.

"It will—"

"It will have to be Naruto, right?" she suddenly spoke.

He nodded. "There's no other, who would agree to become a… a Jinchuuriki.

Kushina clenched her fist and hit the floor hard, leaving a huge hole in it.

"DAMN IT!" she cried. "Was that our purpose?! To die and seal a demon inside our… son…"

"All of this is for a reason" he said. "By using the Four-Season's seal, our son will benefit from Kyuubi's strength."

"I know, it's just…" it was as if she had lost the will to talk anymore. "We'll die… We'll never get to see our son grow up… "

Tears were running down her face, and the rest of her words were drowned in sobs.

"We've got to do it, for everybody's sake."

She nodded, wiping her face off.

"Now, we've got to get out of here. This place will de down in no time."

Kushina stood up, now a serious and determined expression on her face.

"Let's go."

As soon as they went outside, Kyuubi's roar deafened them. The last of the bounding techniques were gone and now the demon was free.

But there was someone else waiting outside as well.

The four figures didn't say anything, just pierced them with their shining eyes. Kushina took a deep breath.

"We're ready." she said.

The white god nodded, smiling.

"Good."


	18. Chapter 18: The Final Battle

Ah, there you go, the final chapter. Remember, this is an AU fanfiction and any differences from the original story are intentional.

And yeah, it took me long enough to finish it.

* * *

The earth trembled. Kyuubi broke the last binding techniques then breathed fire against the shinobi, then passed right through the burning ashes, looking around for Minato and Kushina.

It was enraged, furious. And on top of all, its head was hurting again. The demon stopped dead in its tracks, smelling the air.

_They are near. _

"Kuchiose no Jutsu!"

_What the— _

A large cloud of smoke appeared in front of Kyuubi and, sensing a new technique, it jumped backwards, crushing a few houses under its enormous feet.

As soon as the air cleared, the fox saw a giant frog standing in front of it, and on top of the creature's head, stood the irritating human he wanted to crush. Kyuubi smirked, showing its white sharp teeth.

"You are so amusing, human. You think you can beat me with that worthless frog and your ninja tricks?"

"What did he call me?!" the frog exclaimed, looking angry. It reached for its sword. "I dare you say it again!"

"Relax, Gama-san." Minato said. "We're up against a very dangerous enemy, so we should be careful."

"That won't help you." Kyuubi growled. "Even those gods won't. Today I will kill you all!"

It charged, moving with huge speed towards them. Gamabunta tensed.

Suddenly the demon jumped up, and now it was above them. Minato traced its flight, and realised it planned on landing right on them.

But Gamabunta didn't allow Kyuubi to do so. He quickly formed a seal and spat a large ball of water, which hit the fox with immense speed and power, causing it to break its flight and fall down on the ground before them.

But Kyuubi didn't stay on the ground for a long time and before Gama-san could slice it with his sword, the demon jumped up on its feet again and attacked with claws. The frog quickly jumped backwards and avoided being hit by the fox's paw by only a few inches, but the Hokage still sensed the wind wave Kyuubi produced with its enormous paw.

Minato used the opportunity to throw tons of kunai and shuriken, strengthened with chakra blades, which, as expected, didn't hit Kyuubi, but the moment of distraction was all he needed. He drew out another kunai, not like a standard one, and threw it at the ground. The fox breathed fire at it too, but with a quick motion Gamabunta reflected its attack, using his enormous sword as a shield while channelling chakra through Kyuubi snarled at the frog, but then noticed something. Minato was gone.

It looked around frantically, trying to locate the Hokage. Then it saw that the blonde man was right between its front legs, and was performing the seals for another jutsu.

Before having the time to stop him, a large crack appeared in the ground, and from it sprang water. Tons of water.

Then it realised that the water was forming a cage around it. The monster roared and tried to escape the technique, but it was too late. It couldn't breathe fire either, because it would just be extinguished.

Kyuubi was amazed despite himself.. _That human must have a lot of strength, to do such a thing. _But then it smirked.

_However, even this won't hold me for long. _

* * *

Kushina was running down the dark street.

"_You will ambush Kyuubi by going to the other side of the village and attacking the demon from behind, while I face him with Gama-san"_ Minato had told her. She had to make a pretty wide curve though, as they didn't exactly know how sharp the monster's senses were, and didn't want to risk with anything.

She stopped for a moment, clutching her stomach. Giving birth had been more exhausting than she could ever imagine, and if she hadn't taken those soldier pills, she wouldn't have been able to move at all.

_One wrong move and the plan will be useless, even with gods on our side. _

She was running now under the Hokage monument. As she looked to her left, she saw Kyuubi silhouette, standing before a giant frog, and on the frog's head was standing Minato. Even from that far she could see with her inner vision the light surrounding him, and it was so strong now that it stood like an enormous fire burning against the demon's darkness. But she knew that wasn't enough to scare Kyuubi away

_I must hurry. _

She noticed that the horizon was grey, which meant that dawn was coming.

_It had been one heck of a long night. _

* * *

Yoshino was also running, along the main street. She was carrying Kushina's and Minato's baby in her hands.

Kushina's request had made no sense to her. Her sister had asked her to bring Naruto somewhere close to the battlefield the moment both Kushina and Minato trapped Kyuubi. But she had consented nevertheless.

Now the big monster was caught in the Hokage's technique. She had no idea what they were up to, but whatever it was, she trusted them.

* * *

"You did it again, human. You're more clever than I thought." Kyuubi hissed from its water prison.

Minato didn't answer, just jumped back to Gamabunta's head.

"What do you say, Gama-san, can he escape this one?"

The frog cast a look at the imprisoned fox.

"Nah, he's just babbling—"

At that moment, followed by a huge explosion, Minato's technique was broken, and water splashed everywhere. The Hokage had lost balance, and was now falling down to the ground; even Gamabunta looked shaken.

Minato managed to land on his feet at the last moment, just to see the demon attacking the frog with unnatural speed. Claws and sword clashed, producing a deafening sound, but both animals jumped backwards, unwilling to take the chance to fight directly. It seemed, that despite its big talk, Kyuubi was still wary of Gamabunta's and Minato's abilities.

Seeing an opening, he lunged forward at the beast, drawing a huge arsenal of weapons from the bag, hanging on his belt. He threw it at the fox, activating the exploding tags.

Kyuubi's form disappeared behind a veil of smoke and fire. The ground shook.

_Did I get it? _

_No. _

Even before the smoke cleared, the red fox emerged from it, eyes glowing and fangs glittering at the firelight. With his inner vision, Minato could see the darkness growing even more, rising over him.

"_You" _the fox hissed in its enormous rage.

He wasn't even able to get a hold of himself, when he found the monster standing right over him, raising its paw to crush him. He tried to run away, but to no avail—he had been trapped in a paralysing technique by Kyuubi's eyes.

He could feel immense heat building up around the fox, along with a cloak of red chakra. It started burning his own skin—he fell down to his knees, overwhelmed by the sensation of strength coming from Kyuubi.

"_You will be of no use to them dead." _the demongrowled.

Using his other vision, he caught a glimpse of light behind the monster's darkness. But it was too late. He was going to die.

_Not yet. _

He had heard that Voice again.

It was him.

"HEY, DEMON!"

Kyuubi froze, his paw in mid-air. Then it turned his head around.

Minato slowly stood up, regaining his balance. The cool night air came like a blessing to his burned skin.

He turned towards Kushina, who had screamed that.

"Ah, the other human." the fox remarked, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "Coming to _help._"

"Yeah." Kushina narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips, staring directly at the demon's eyes. Her gaze then fell on Minato, who was standing right between the front legs of the fox.

Kyuubi growled.

"There is no help. No one will guide you during this fight."

But Kushina's gaze was still locked upon Minato. He nodded shortly.

"Kuchiose no Jutsu!"

A large eagle emerged, Kushina standing on top of his head. It flapped with its wings nervously, but Kushina whispered something to calm him down.

Minato jumped back on top of Gamabunta. The frog picked its sword up again, but the Hokage shook his head.

"No, Gama-san. This I need to do alone."

_I hope my son forgives me one day for what I intend to do. It is for the best of all. _

He closed his eyes.

It was now or never.

Kushina signalled at someone, and a moment later Yoshino jumped up on the roof of the building that was closest to them.

Minato stood up, focusing his inner sight on Kyuubi. He could sense that Kushina was doing the same.

Now the darkness didn't seem to be so overwhelming.

Focusing all his strength, he felt the Presence forming stronger and stronger inside of him. Slowly, an enormous power started flowing through him, giving him a sense of warmth and security.

He didn't need to open his eyes again. He saw everything.

Kyuubi's darkness retreated, its place taken by light. Kushina's and his energy merged, pushing the black, burning, full of hatred and malice power away.

Strangely enough, he didn't feel exhausted by the effort. Actually, he couldn't feel anything at all, but the pleasant warmth spreading in him.

With a last roar, Kyuubi was whipped away. All of its enormous power flowed, as if it was being drained, to a small human.

To a tiny human soul.

His and Kushina's son.

Smiling, he opened his eyes for one last time.

The sun was rising. There was a thin red line on the horizon and the sky had turned grey. The first beam of light shone upon the Hokage monument.

The summoned animals disappeared with a loud "puff" and a cloud of smoke. As soon as it cleared away, the astonished ANBU, who hadn't seen what had happened, just the miraculous way Kyuubi vanished, approached hesitatingly. Kushina's and Minato's lifeless bodies were the only thing on the road and among the remnants of Konoha's main street.

* * *

**Epilogue**

A shadow was moving in the forest.

It was a Sand shinobi, one of the few who had survived the fight. His clothes were all ragged and his equipment was gone. He was running in the dawn of the new day, desperate to get away before the ANBU caught up on him.

He couldn't know that ANBU were too preoccupied to hunt an escaped prisoner.

Suddenly he stopped. There was someone else, very close to him.

He tensed, his hand searching a kunai to draw, though he had lost all of his weapons. Where was the other person?

Ah! There. Sitting on a tree trunk, not far away. He hadn't noticed the fugitive, because he had his back turned towards the sand ninja.

The ragged man sighed. It was only a boy.

He approached carefully, and more and more details became visible. The state of the boy's clothes was as miserable as his, if not even more, and there were cuts and bruises all over him.

"Hey." the ninja called. The other turned around frantically, noticing the man and giving a small yelp out of fear.

"No, no no, it's okay. I won't hurt you."

There were three long scars along the boy's left cheek, and his face was wet with tears.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I-I-I-I g-g-ot lost" the boy sobbed, whipping his eyes with his hand. That didn't help at all, because now his face was wet and covered with mud and ashes.

Where're you from?"

There was no answer.

The fugitive looked around. There was no time to take a boy with him, and he'd only slow him down. On the other hand…

"Hey, boy." he called. "Do you wanna come with me?"

The boy blinked, obviously surprised.

"Wh-wh-why?"

"Because it seems you're far away from home, and you're lost. You'll die if you stay here."

The boy stood numb for another moment or so, and then nodded.

"Okay, climb on my back."

* * *

The third Hokage was standing in front of the enormous crowd gathered, a week after the Sand's and Kyuubi's attack. The citizens were silent, which was uncharacteristic for so many of them in one place.

They had asked him to take on Minato's duties, since they weren't able to pick a new Hokage. The only other acceptable choice was one of the three Sannin, but no one knew where they were.

He was holding the red hat with the symbol of "fire" on it in his hands, his gaze soaring above the city gates and the devastation, caused by the attack. Most of the village people had survived, but they had lost their leader and many shinobi.

Those who had fled that night, had returned, with a small exception.

A small boy with black hair and three whisker-like marks on his left cheek hadn't made his way to the village. He had died, said some. He was captured by the Sand ninja, suggested others; but no one knew for certain.

Sarutobi fixed his gaze upon the citizens once more.

Yes. He'd lead them from now on.

To a better future.


End file.
